A GREEN guru dubbed “Scotland’s Elon Musk” has unveiled the first hydrogen-powered van built in Britain.

Entrepreneur Emil Rangelov, CEO of Glasgow-based HV Systems, is hoping to build zero-carbon emission vans and lorries in a bid to offer greener freight transport.

He yesterday showed off a prototype of the first hydrogen-powered van to be built in the UK – and orders are already coming in, despite the fact that this time last year the vehicle was just a sketch on a page.

Rangelov and co-founder, Abdul Waheed, 34, are hoping the new five-and-a-half tonne H2Van will tackle harmful CO2 emissions.

The H2Van can be refueled in six to 10 minutes – hours quicker than electric cars – and reaches speeds of 65mph, carrying up to two tonnes of goods. It is also exempt from road tax and congestion charges, and the only byproduct of hydrogen power is heat and water.

Mr Rangelov, 31, has been compared to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who created a range of battery-powered electric

cars.

The fleet of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles will be powered by an electrical power train that works by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water while producing electricity through a fuel cell.