ONE vehicle in a fleet of cutting-edge cars sold by a Swindon dealership had a very special driver at the Conservative Party conference.

Prime minister Boris Johnson put thoughts of the fuel crisis behind him for a few minutes earlier this week as he climbed behind the wheel of a hydrogen-powered car supplied by Pebley Beach.

The Paddington Drive car showroom sent the Hyundai Nexo to British chemicals giant Ineos, which last year launched a clean hydrogen business to accelerate its own drive towards net-zero carbon emissions.

Another Swindon-based company, Smart Designs, created the wrapping for the eco-friendly car which was covered in Ineos branding.

The Nexo took pride of place on the exhibition floor of the Conservative Party conference after being driven from Swindon to Manchester for the political event.

This is where the PM got into the driver's seat of what has been called one of the world’s most innovative passenger cars.

Pebley Beach managing director Dominic Threlfall hopes the vehicle and other hydrogen-powered cars supplied by Swindon can help lead the country in reaching the government's long-term goal of cutting out all carbon emissions within the next few decades.

He said: “The government published its hydrogen strategy in August, and sees the benefits of using hydrogen to meet the UK’s carbon reduction targets.

“This was an excellent opportunity to discuss hydrogen-powered motoring with policy-makers and those who influence government strategy.

“And it was a good opportunity to promote Swindon’s place at the forefront of the UK’s hydrogen revolution.”

The Nexo uses hydrogen to power an electric motor by using fuel cells developed by another Swindon-based company, Johnson Matthey.

The SUV emits nothing more harmful than water and is fitted with an advanced air purification system which actually cleans the air as it drives. The system removes 99.9 percent of CO2 particles from the air around it.

Pebley Beach is the phase one distributor of the Nexo for Hyundai UK.