- Series to use ‘Pioneer 25’ car for ten events next year
- Extreme H adds Red Bull as partner
Extreme H has taken the wraps off its first-ever hydrogen-powered racing car ahead of the off-road series’ maiden season in 2025.
The ‘Pioneer 25’ hydrogen race car was unveiled aboard the St Helena vessel, owned by Extreme H and used to transport vehicles to races, at London’s Tower Bridge. The car is designed and manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, and can reach a speed of 100 kph in 4.5 seconds.
Each vehicle is powered by a 75 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell from Symbio, the series’ official fuel cell provider. Teams will be able to redesign front and rear bodywork and lights to replicate the appearance of everyday car models.
“We are incredibly proud to introduce the world to the first hydrogen racing car and the Extreme H series,” said Alejandro Agag, founder and chief executive of Extreme H. “This launch is not just about a new vehicle; it’s about pioneering the future of sustainable motorsport.
“Hydrogen fuel cells offer a remarkable opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint and promote clean energy solutions, and we are proud to lead this charge with Extreme H.”
- ‘Extreme E is not ending, it’s getting better’: Ali Russell clarifies the series’ hydrogen-powered future
Extreme E records 8.2% decrease in overall carbon footprint in 2023
Extreme H will be a continuation of the electric powered off-road racing series Extreme E, which has been held since 2021. The debut season of Extreme H will comprise ten rounds across five locations. It will begin in Saudi Arabia before moving onto the UK, Germany and Italy.
Following the European leg, the series finale is set to be held in the US, with calendar dates, teams and drivers to be confirmed later this year. In 2026, the series will become an official International Automobile Federation (FIA) world championship.
Speaking to BlackBook Motorsport, Ali Russell, the managing director of Extreme H, confirmed that the series would keep successful aspects of Extreme E, such as gender parity in terms of its drivers, while also evolving the cars’ technology.
Despite noting the challenge in maintaining interest the series, given its events are spread out across several months due to a commitment to sustainable transport, Russell said Extreme H is “trying to change the way sport is” by deploying a comprehensive approach to engagement through a range of content.
Russell said that Extreme H has benefited from being the first series to adopt hydrogen fuel, especially given the importance of identifying alternative road fuels for the future.
“What sets us apart from maybe others that are looking to move in this direction, is that we have a working car, we’ve done over three seasons racing, testing with that car already, and not had any issues,” Russell said.
“We’ve got incredible reliability, we’re now building ten other cars. And we’re gonna go racing next year. What that says to me, is a lot of people talk about things or are sitting aside. We don’t. We get involved, we make things happen, and we show that there is a future and that future can make sustainability sexy.”
At the car launch, Extreme H also announced Red Bull as the series’ official energy drink partner. Russell described the partnership to be “very symbiotic” and mutually beneficial, noting the drinks giant’s interest in the hydrogen aspect of the series.
“To have not just an energy drinks partner, but a media platform like Red Bull, allows us to get a far broader audience, but also an audience that’s very open to consuming extreme sports,” Russell said.
“We want to target a much younger demographic, and that’s the demographic that is so hard to get. It’s not about sticking it on BBC One or ITV, it’s about layering that in different platforms. That might be YouTube or Facebook, it might be even more youth skewing in terms of TikTok and Snapchat and so on. It’s also important to globally do that, whether it’s Weibo, or whether it’s Youku in China.
“It’s about figuring out how we do that collectively, and how do we use their portfolio of sports stars to amplify that message. If you look at sports stars, they’re TV channels in themselves.”
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