Hydrogen off-road race car tested to limits in former coal mine

At a decommissioned coal mine in Scotland, a stark backdrop for the world’s first hydrogen-powered off-road racing car, testing is underway ahead of next year’s hydrogen racing series, Extreme H.

The series is an evolution of the current all-electric series, Extreme E, with the organisers using it to develop hydrogen as a future car technology and showcase its green potential. “We’re using racing to accelerate the adoption, accelerate the innovation around hydrogen,” says Ali Russell, managing director of Extreme E, allowing “you and I to go out and buy our next car as a hydrogen vehicle”.

The Pioneer 25 car uses hydrogen produced using green solar and wind energy sources by Enowa in Saudi Arabia. “In motor racing, we always shoot for gold standards,” says Mark Grain, technical director at Extreme E, who was responsible for developing the car. “We don’t want to compromise and use a lesser form of hydrogen than green hydrogen,” he adds.

However, the racing series is also seen as a technology incubator. While green hydrogen is highly desirable, it is a relatively new technology and scaling to mass adoption may involve less green sources in the interim. “We need to create the right environment for the economics of hydrogen to work, which is about mass adoption,” says Russell. “So whether that’s blue, whether that’s pink, whether that’s grey, whether that’s green,” he says, referring to the various forms of hydrogen production, each of which involves different processes and energy sources, including some that use fossil fuels. “Ultimately, green has got the most important story, but all of those aspects of hydrogen are really important at this moment in time.”

Right now, however, it is all about proving the technology in extreme environments, wrangling performance and getting the car ready to race next season. “We’re not only moving technology, we’re improving the car,” says Russell, “and we’re going to have a much better racing series as a consequence.”  As the car gets put through its paces, it certainly seems to be delivering on that promise. “The Extreme H car is going to be quicker than Extreme E car on track,” says Hedda Hosås, Extreme H’s test driver.