As long-standing fans of motorsport, we’re always curious about how championships might change as new technology and laws come into play.
With the upcoming 2035 ban on petrol and diesel cars moving ever closer, we wanted to see how racing was planning on using alternative fuels. Would the series continue to stick with electric vehicles? Or, since we’re seeing hydrogen being touted as the next big thing in several different areas of transportation, including for long-haul HGV use, could it also start to play a role?
We explore our findings here and share comments from motorsport leaders looking to pave the way for alternative fuels. But first, which alternative fuels are already being used in motorsport?
Alternative fuels in motorsport: the current status
Motorsport has proven that you don’t need petrol or diesel vehicles to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Formula E uses fully electric race cars and is one of the fastest-growing sporting events, with 491 million global viewers during its 2023/24 season – up by 35% over the previous year.
Elsewhere, electric vehicles are tearing it up in various other championships, including the FIA Rallycross World Championship, the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and off-road electric racing series Extreme E.
Whilst electric motorsport is becoming increasingly popular, it wasn’t always this way. Just a decade or so ago, using these types of vehicles in motor racing was unheard of as the technology simply wasn’t advanced enough to compete at a high level.
Now, Formula E cars are capable of reaching speeds of up to 200mph (322km/h), and many electric road vehicles can go from 0-60mph faster than their petrol and diesel counterparts.
The technology has come a long way, and many car manufacturers believe this is in part due to the uptick in electric motorsport championships over the last decade. Jaguar, in particular, are vocal about the fact that data from the carmaker’s Formula E racing team helps them improve the performance of their road cars. And Nissan has also explained that the Formula E series helps “deliver innovation and excitement on and off the track.”
It’s possible that hydrogen motorsport events would help speed up the development of hydrogen cars on the road too. And, incidentally, it appears as though the very first motorsport championship of its kind is just a few short months away.
Hydrogen in motorsport: Extreme E’s new championship
Extreme E, now known as Extreme H, is shifting gears to race hydrogen cars instead of the electric vehicles it was once known for. The championship, which races in remote areas of the world that have been affected by climate change, has now completed its production run of the hydrogen cars and will be starting to race them this year.
“We are seeing hydrogen in a similar stage to how renewables were placed 15 to 20 years ago, where technologies were in their infancy so the supporting infrastructure was a lot more expensive to get up and running,” said Genevieve Horton, marketing and sustainability executive at Extreme H.
“What we’re aiming to do is to create a unique ecosystem with Extreme H where we’re speeding up the development of hydrogen technologies. With championships such as Extreme E, they are in a unique position to speed up development of the technology much quicker than just on the public roads themselves.
“We’ve essentially got a unique opportunity to act as a catalyst and accelerate that adoption of hydrogen as a means for propulsion.”
“Our aim isn’t to replace electrification with hydrogen, but to compliment it,” says Extreme H executive
Similar to Riversimple founder Hugo Spowers’ thoughts during our interview with him on hydrogen, Genevieve explained that they don’t see hydrogen and electric power at odds with each other.
“We’re not trying to convey that hydrogen technologies are out to supersede electricity, but it’s continuing on with that decarbonisation route that EVs have made such great headway on,” she added.
“What we found with the electrification is that it’s made great leaps and bounds in terms of progress, but there are areas such as heavy freight and public transportation which have been harder to decarbonise, and so hydrogen can be a really key complement to what we have with electric technologies already, in terms of filling those last gaps.”
As we’ve seen with electric racing, this shift could allow car manufacturers to use their findings to improve hydrogen road vehicles too.
With many OEMs now innovating with the alternative fuel, Horton explained that Extreme H have created a “hydrogen hub” where they’ve “been meeting with a lot of the key OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) who usually aren’t allowed to communicate directly around their own hydrogen development.”
She added: “But we get them all in the same room where they can speak openly about hydrogen development.
“A lot of OEMs are well aware of the fact that there are areas that electric technologies haven’t quite been able to fully decarbonise or get industries over the line, which is where hydrogen can play a key role.
“That’s a really key part for us in terms of working together to make these technologies more viable, more accessible. Because when we all partner together, barriers can be overcome much more easily.”
Working to change perceptions around hydrogen
On top of that, the championship also aims to change perceptions around hydrogen.
“There are some public perceptions around safety, and I think it really is an education piece, like with gasoline,” Horton commented.
“What we’re really proud to have done over four seasons of Extreme E is show that electric racing can be really exciting, and that these cars have the capability to really be pushed to the limits. I think it’s really changed perceptions in terms of what people think about electric cars.
“And so we’re really excited to be pioneering the future with hydrogen in the sense that it’s a new fuel again, and we’ve got that capability to rigorously test these vehicles and push the technologies to keep driving their continued innovation.”
Building the hydrogen infrastructure for the race
We’ve previously mentioned that hydrogen is facing a chicken-and-egg situation where, without the infrastructure available to fuel hydrogen cars, the public and car manufacturers will remain cautious about the new technology.
This is another area where Extreme H, even when it was still known as Extreme E, shines; in 2024, Extreme E, along with green hydrogen supplier ENOWA, managed to produce 80% of their racing event’s power in Scotland with hydrogen fuel cells.
The Pioneer 25: Extreme H’s hydrogen car
One thing that is sure to change people’s perceptions about hydrogen vehicles is Extreme H’s off-road hydrogen race car, the Pioneer 25. The hydrogen vehicle is a completely new vehicle, built from the ground up to better suit the fuel cell technology that powers it.
Whilst the Pioneer 25 is slightly heavier than its Extreme E counterpart, the Odyssey 21, it still retains the same performance metrics as the electric version: a top power output of 400kW, top speed of 124mph (200km/h), 0-62mph (100km/h) in 4.5 seconds, and the ability to scale gradients of up to 130% – perfect for the off-road tracks its been built to endure.
And the only thing the vehicle will emit? Pure water vapour.
Extreme H’s team have also made other modifications to the electric Odyssey 21 in order to better suit the championship. For a start, the Pioneer 25 has been built with just one adjustable central seat in the cockpit. And, as each racing team is made up of both a male and a female driver, the steering wheel and pedals are fully adjustable too.
The suspension can also be adjusted from the driving seat, allowing each driver to adapt this to best suit their driving style or the terrain.
A possible return to combustion
Whilst Extreme H are using hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV), which power a battery and will have that familiar hum to the Odyssey 21, Horton explained that they “haven’t ruled out” using hydrogen combustion engines, which retain the familiar roar of other internal combustion engines (ICE).
Horton explained they were aware that the sound of the combustion engine was “the heart and soul of motorsport racing” and that they were “looking at exploring all avenues”. But she added that the decision wouldn’t be taken lightly by the racing championship.
“If we were to use hydrogen combustion cars, we need to be really intentional on how can we negate the outputs of that”, she said.
“Because we know nitrous oxides do come out of combustion engines, and so that’s something we would absolutely have as a high priority consideration of how we can innovate with fuels to reduce those emissions”.
“For the first season, it will be with a hydrogen fuel cell, but then there may be instances where hydrogen combustion may be worth exploring as well.”
More motorsport championships could follow suit
It’s thought that Formula 1 could follow suit in due course; already, they’ve previously teamed up with Extreme H and FIA, the motorsport governing body, to create a “hydrogen working group” to better understand how the fuel can be used both in race cars and across the motor sporting infrastructure.
In 2021, F1 managing director Ross Brawn suggested that “hydrogen is the route that Formula 1 can have where we keep the noise, we keep the emotion but we move into a different solution,” so it’s possible that the championship could switch to H2-powered vehicles in the future.
Le Mans is also set to race hydrogen-powered prototypes, though their debut has been delayed to 2026 or 2027.
And, in a recent video interview, Alan Gow, chief executive of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), explained that he thought “hydrogen is probably the next big thing, certainly, for motorsport,” and added that he “would happily open our doors to a hydrogen development within [the BTCC] championship.”
Gow went on to hint that we could see this within the “next two or three years.”
All this combined, it feels like motorsport is on the edge of a major shift, with hydrogen becoming the next big thing over the coming years. As Horton aptly put: “It feels like we’re on the precipice of something really big, and you just need that last nudge to really get that momentum going.”
Hopefully Extreme H will be that nudge!
Hydrogen car insurance with Adrian Flux
We’re one of very few insurance companies in the UK that offer hydrogen car insurance as well as cover for electric and hybrid vehicles.
With a team made up of many car enthusiasts, it’s no surprise that we want to show our support for hydrogen, which maintains the sound and feel of a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle while also helping the country reach net zero.
If you’re thinking about getting a hydrogen vehicle, call us on 0800 369 8590 for a quote, or book a callback at a time that suits you.
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