Hydrogen cars are only just starting to take off but Jack Nicholson was driving one as early as 1978
Published on Mar 28, 2026 at 8:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Mar 26, 2026 at 7:39 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
As it turns out, Jack Nicholson was an early pioneer of hydrogen-powered transportation with a hydrogen car based on an American classic.
He drove one in the late 1970s as part of a marketing campaign for a hydrogen-powered Impala produced by a now defunct company.
He was ‘spiritually’ right, because hydrogen cars are a thing today.
Unfortunately, the company he endorsed is long gone, and the story behind its collapse isn’t particularly noble.
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Hydrogen cars have been around for longer than we think
Just like BEVs – battery electric vehicles – hydrogen cars are older than we think.
The first prototype for a hydrogen motor was built in the early 1800s.
Then, a few decades later in 1839, a scientist called Sir William Grove invented the gas voltaic battery, which was the ancestor of the modern fuel cell.
In 1860, Belgian-French engineer Étienne Lenoir invented the first hydrogen vehicle that looks similar to something you’d reasonably call a production car today.
Progress on that front slowed significantly over the next 100 years or so, until the 1960s, when GM created the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (above) of the modern era.
As for Nicholson, he drove his hydrogen-powered Impala in 1978 and praised in a video that was broadcast on CBC.
But then, just a year later, it all went wrong.
When Jack Nicholson pioneered a hydrogen-powered Chevy Impala
In 1978, a company called Consumers Solar Electric Power Corp (not to be confused with Consumers Energy) hired Nicholson as a ‘brand ambassador’ – so to speak – for a hydrogen prototype based on the Chevy Impala.
The car had been modified to run on hydrogen, and it was driven on CBC by Jack Nicholson.
Unfortunately for Nicholson and everyone else involved, the project may have been solid, but the company wasn’t.
Just a year after Nicholson’s demonstration and interview, Consumers Solar Electric Power Corp got into legal trouble, which eventually resulted in the demise of the company.
The scandal, along with technical hurdles and a nonexistent infrastructure, essentially buried the project.
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After beginning his automotive writing career at DriveTribe, Alessandro has been with Supercar Blondie since the launch of the website in 2022. In fact, he penned the very first article published on supercarblondie.com. He’s covered subjects from cars to aircraft, watches, and luxury yachts - and even crypto. He can largely be found heading up the site’s new-supercar and SBX coverage and being the first to bring our readers the news that they’re hungry for.
