As the excitement builds for the first Extreme E championship beginning this April, which will see all-electric endurance racing in the world’s harshest environments, a hydrogen fuel cell charging system has been unveiled to sustainably power the advanced SUVs.
Extreme E has worked with hydrogen power generator provider AFC Energy on the zero-emission generator, H-Power Charger. It is the first-ever event to utilize Hydrogen fuel cell generators for remote charging and every vehicle will be powered by it.
AFC Energy designed and built system will highlight to Extreme E’s global audience the vast potential for today’s newest clean power technologies to displace polluting diesel generators, to which a large quantity of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed.
Engineered to withstand some of the world’s harshest environmental conditions, AFC Energy’s specially modified fuel cell system will power vehicles across five continents in Extreme E’s first season, including race locations in the Arctic, Amazon Rainforest, Sahara Desert and the heights of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina.
Following six months of collaborative engineering with Extreme E’s utilities team, the fuel cell system has undergone a month of intensive commissioning in January at AFC Energy’s Surrey assembly facility, alongside battery management systems and vehicle charging infrastructure testing. Following inspection by its Engineering team, it is now set for handover to Extreme E’s logistics team for shipping to the Season’s first race in Saudi Arabia.
Race organizers and teams, including teams run by current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton (X44), former Champions Nico Rosberg (Rosberg Xtreme Racing) and Jenson Button (JBXE), alongside high profile well-established teams including Andretti United and Chip Ganassi Racing, will charge their ODYSSEY 21 vehicles using electricity generated by AFC Energy’s fuel cell power system.
AFC Energy will now move to the integration and delivery of Extreme E’s upstream green hydrogen fuelling solution which will be delivered to the championship over the forthcoming months.
