Extreme E Could Switch to Become the First Hydrogen-Only Race Series

So Extreme H will be more about exploring the technology than a necessity to fulfil the potential of the format. These will be fuel cell cars, where other race series such as the World Rally Championship has been experimenting with sustainable fuel and even hydrogen combustion. “I think we need to explore combustion for hydrogen, but fuel cells have an advantage, which is absolutely zero emissions,” says Agag. “Combusting hydrogen has some emissions. We also have to analyze exactly how much those emissions are. There will be NOx for sure, but there are certain advantages. For example, combustion makes noise, and some people find that exciting for motorsport.”

Every motor racing format is struggling with these questions. “What’s Formula One going to do in the future technology-wise, in 2035?” asks Agag. “They have the regulations now already set for 2024, 25 and 26. They will have new regulations in 2030 to 35. But I will be very surprised if they’re not combustion. I think maybe e-fuels, but this is a technology that is very niche and Formula One for me shouldn’t be niche, it should be a technology that can be deployed for mass adoption. The price of e-fuels is going to be for special situations. Combustion of hydrogen could be the solution in the future. Having a testbed of commercial hydrogen will be very useful. But the technology is not ready yet, so we cannot go racing next year with combustion of hydrogen because there is more development to do.”

Agag also isn’t convinced by the carbon neutrality of combustion e-fuels. “I smoke cigars, and people say they are emitting CO2,” he says. “But the leaves of the plant of the cigar in Cuba has absorbed CO2 that I’m releasing. If you want to believe that you can.” This is the theory of e-fuels, where the CO2 emitted was captured beforehand by plants or carbon capture. “That’s why it’s neutral. It has emissions, but you capture them. In theory, oil comes from forests that absorbed CO2 millions of years ago, which you are releasing back to the atmosphere. In theory that would be carbon neutral, too.” Obviously, that would be pushing the argument a little too far for comfort.

Extreme E’s relationship with hydrogen goes far beyond the cars themselves, however. The race series has been using it as an off-grid power source since the beginning, and in Neom this year the racing event was entirely powered by Hydrogen. Extreme H will be part of this experiment with clean energy supply. “ENOWA has always been our hydrogen partner,” says Agag. But Kaizen Energy has now been enlisted to supply hydrogen in methanol form for locations where a local supply of pure hydrogen is unavailable. When Extreme H arrives, some of the hydrogen produced by Kaizen’s technology will be used directly to fuel the cars.

The full specification of the Extreme H cars is still being developed. Like other Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), they will have a battery on board. Although this is improving, FCEVs have a lag associated with their power delivery, where BEVs have immediate torque. That would be particularly difficult in motorsport, so the battery provides the necessary throttle response for acceleration and is then replenished by braking and the fuel cell when speed is more constant. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen has a small battery with a high-power output precisely for this reason. The initial Extreme H cars will have two 1kg hydrogen tanks, but the battery size hasn’t been decided yet and may get smaller as the series develops.

Extreme E is also looking at turning its ship the St Helena into a hydrogen-powered transportation system. Right now, although the ship has lower emissions than moving everything via air freight, the St Helena still uses fossil fuel for power. “Hydrogen technology is the one that can power ships,” says Agag. “We’re talking with some partners about exploring the possibility of cracking methanol into hydrogen on the ship. Then you can use it to move. But I don’t know if we can retrofit the St Helena. We may have to make a whole new ship, which would have a huge carbon footprint. So that’s where the balance is, but we don’t give up. Let’s see.”

Read the most up to date Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Industry news at FuelCellsWorks

Even ENOWA, Extreme E’s primary partner for hydrogen technology, is skeptical about whether hydrogen will be used in personal transport. Neom in Saudi Arabia has chosen battery-electric for its city vehicles, although it will be receiving some BMW iX5 Hydrogen cars soon to test those as well. But Extreme E is all about pushing the limits of the possible. Its switch to hydrogen-powered racing cars may not mirror what most people drive in the future, but it will be fun to watch how Extreme H develops, particularly against rapidly improving pure battery-powered racing. That’s what competitive motorsport is about, after all.

SOURCE: Forbes