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Pininfarina, the Italian design house behind the stunning new Battista supercar and numerous Ferraris is stepping into the SUV world. But in true Pininfarina fashion, the company is doing it its own way with a hydrogen-powered SUV. NAMX, a new Afro-European automotive start-up, commissioned the design for production.

With Ferrari, Lamborghini, and other supercar manufacturers coming out with luxury hyper-performance SUVs and crossovers, it makes sense that Pininfarina would also step into that world.
People know Pininfarina for its European sports car designs like the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, Ferrari 330, and Ferrari Testarossa.  

NAMX is making big promises for the new hydrogen HUV

Thew new Pininfarina-designed SUV from NAMX is hydrogen powered.
The new NAMX Pininfarina HUV | NAMX

This new SUV is not the Pura Vision SUV that the company had planned in 2020, but it’s similar. The new hydrogen that NAMX has designed is based on a removable tank system in the rear of the crossover. Pininfarina designed the entire crossover around the tanks in the rear. Hydrogen-powered cars use the fuel, combined with precious metals, to create electricity, water, and heat. The hydrogen energy then powers electric motors. NAMX is calling the new vehicle an HUV, or hydrogen utility vehicle.

Since their only by-product is water vapor, hydrogen engines are becoming increasingly popular for use indoors. Many warehouses use hydrogen-powered forklifts inside. About the only hydrogen-powered car to ever hit the streets was a version of the Honda Clarity.  

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have been hard to produce

2019 Honda Clarity is on display at an auto show
2019 Honda Clarity is on display at the Chicago Auto Show. | Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

Of course, hydrogen fuel stations are few and far between. NAMX has an idea to deliver hydrogen to your home. There are no details on that service yet.

The hydrogen motor in the SUV will come in two versions, an entry-level rear-wheel-drive version and a four-wheel-drive version called the GTH with 550 horsepower. The company expects the NAMX to be a 2025 model and have a price of between $69,000 to $101,000. It’s scheduled to debut this fall at the 2022 Paris Motor Show, but it’s already available for pre-order. It’s unclear if it will be sold in the U.S.

NAMX says the company will start testing the HUV, or hydrogen utility vehicle, in 2023.

The Pininfarina design group has a long history

Pininfarina is known more for designing supercars like the Battista, not high-performance SUVs.
The Pininfarina Battista making its world debut at the Geneva International Motorshow in 2019 | Getty Images

The new design is clean and leverages the X in the NAMX design. The crossover has a big X-like indention on the doors. It has a big X on the grille.  It looks like a tall crossover, but with very clean lines.

Battista “Pinin” Farina founded the company in 1930. In 2015 the Indian company Mahindra assumed control of the company.

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Writer - Sedans & Coupes

Dan Mayfield

Dan joined MotorBiscuit in 2022 with over 20 years of experience in journalism and a lifelong passion for anything related to the automotive industry. He grew up wrenching a 1949 Ford pickup truck and an MGB with his dad, learning how not to wire a fuel pump (he inadvertently set the MGB on fire).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the University of New Mexico, Dan has contributed his expertise to a range of local outlets, including the City of Albuquerque, US Eagle, and the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity.

On weekends, Dan spends Saturdays enjoying “cars and coffee” chats and, on Sundays, he’s watching the Route 66 Cruise roll through town. He also races motorcycles, and it’s not unusual to find him elbows-deep in his latest cafe racer build.

Taking advantage of the local desert terrain, Dan also enjoys exploring and driving off-road in his trusty Ram Rebel pickup truck, which provides personal insights into his contributions to our Trucks, SUVs, & Crossovers coverage. Dan strives to give our readers unique information about the dynamic automotive market, reading anything that has to do with cars, trucks, bikes, 4X4s, and, in his words, “everything with a motor.”

Dan has earned a number of accolades from the Public Relations Society of America, and is a University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Fellow.