The Gumpert Nathalie or RG Nathalie is a hydrogen-electric hybrid

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

running on

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

to generate hydrogen that is scheduled to enter production in 2021. It is the first car produced by the new

car manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by ...

RG founded by Roland Gumpert, following the bankruptcy of his company Gumpert which produced the

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. Production is planned to be limited to 500 cars.

History

Preamble

Roland Gumpert Roland Gumpert (born 10 December 1944) is a German engineer and founder of the sports car manufacturer Apollo Automobil. Gumpert is currently the managing director of the sports car manufacturer Gumpert Aiways Automobile, which he also founded. ...

is a former president of

Audi Sport {{Commons category, World Rally Championship teams Teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of ...

. In 2001, he had founded the

automobile manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

Gumpert, to produce a supercar named Gumpert Apollo. In 2014, the company went bankrupt, and was taken over by

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

businessman Norman Choi and consortium Consolidated Ideal TeamVenture, the owner of

De Tomaso De Tomaso Automobili Ltd. (previously known as De Tomaso Modena SpA) is an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded in 1959 by Alejandro de Tomaso in Modena. It originally produced various sports prototypes and auto racing vehicles, incl ...

, which renames it Apollo Automobil Gmbh and produces the

Apollo Intensa Emozione The Apollo Intensa Emozione, also known as Apollo IE, is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Apollo Automobil GmbH, in partnership with Manifattura Automobili Torino, designed by their chief designer Jowyn Won ...

Presentation

In 2017, Roland Gumpert joined forces with

Aiways Aiways Automobiles Company Ltd is a Chinese automobile manufacturer of electric cars founded in 2017. The Aiways name is derived from the phrase "Ai (meaning 'love' in Chinese) is on the way". History Beginnings Startup Aiways was founded by ...

, a Chinese company based in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and specialist in alternative energies, and founded his new company called “RG”, initials of Roland Gumpert, based in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

in Germany. At Beijing Motor Show 2018, RG presents the prototype of its first model: the "Nathalie", named after the daughter of the founder. The RG Nathalie is to be produced at 500 copies from the end of 2019 in Germany, then in

Shangrao Shangrao ( zh, s= , t= , p=Shàngráo) is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and ...

in China and sold at a price of 420000

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s. At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Gumpert presents the RG Nathalie in its series version, produced from 2021, with its electric motor powered by a fuel cell.

Features

The Nathalie is a two-seater coupe, its line is close to the

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (''Gran Turismo–Racing''; model code: R35; Japanese: 日産・GT-R; ''Nissan GT-R'') is a series of cars built by Japanese marque Nissan from 2007 to 2025. It has a 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 seating layout and is considered b ...

. It receives headlights with

LEDs A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (correspo ...

at the front, removable shutters and a light strip joining the rear lights. It is designed on a very light carbon shell which gives it high performance with a maximum speed of and a 0 to in 2.5 seconds. The Nathalie receives four electric motors of , each placed in the wheels. They develop a combined power of transmitted on all four wheels. The Nathalie is equipped with a fuel cell which operates on

and supplies a battery. The complex system developed by RG consists of a

methanol reformer A methanol reformer is a device used in chemical engineering, especially in the area of fuel cell technology, which can produce pure hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide by reacting a methanol and water (steam) mixture. :\mathrm \Delta H_^0 = 49.2\ \ma ...

which, by a

catalyzed Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

chemical reaction, divides methanol into carbon dioxide and hydrogen, the latter feeding the fuel cell which produces electricity. The fuel cell system type is indicated by the fuel cell producer as

Reformed methanol fuel cell Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell (RMFC) or Indirect Methanol Fuel Cell (IMFC) systems are a subcategory of proton-exchange fuel cells where, the fuel, methanol (CH3OH), is reformed, before being fed into the fuel cell. RMFC systems offer advantag ...

. It also increases its autonomy thanks to the recovery of energy produced during braking. It benefits from a 60-liter tank of methanol and thus a range of to in "eco" mode. If renewable methanol (e.g. made of municipal waste or

renewable electricity Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...

) is used, a carbon-neutral operation is possible.

References

External links