The upcoming Extreme E off-road series for electric race cars has drawn a tremendous amount of attention in both the EV and motorsports communities, with a number of big names and Formula 1 champions signed up as both team owners and competitors. One big question about the series’ viability, though, has been the reliability of charging stations in the remote deserts and jungles that the series plans to compete in. Well, we don’t need to wonder about that anymore, because Extreme E just revealed the portable, hydrogen-powered generator that will power the series!
Image courtesy of Extreme E.
Built by AFC Energy after six months of development in concert with Extreme E’s engineers, the “100% Clean Energy” (their words) fuel cell generator was finally given a green light after a month of intensive testing at the company’s Surrey, England assembly facility. “The product from AFC Energy offers an end-to-end emission free solution for running our electric vehicles, and I hope it will inspire other organizations to investigate sustainable low emission alternatives when running their events,” explains Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of the Extreme E series.
While not as visually thrilling as Extreme E’s Odyssey 21 racer — an electric SUV packing 550 HP that promises 0-60 MPH times in the low 4-second range with the off-road chops to tackle 130% grades at extreme speeds — the portable FC generator shown here does harbor some pretty exciting possibilities beyond the racetrack, as well as on it. Once the technology is proven out and developed with Extreme E, for example, a container-based FC generator like this one could provide emissions-free electrical support to damaged power grids in hurricane-swept coastal towns or provide power to future humanitarian efforts in the same kind of remote areas that Extreme E will compete in.
“Hydrogen fuel cell charging in the world of motorsport is truly ground breaking, and Extreme E is the first event of its kind to utilize this technology,” said Agag, in a statement. ” Extreme E’s vision to use motorsport as a platform to introduce new technologies, such as fuel cell technology, to support this goal is to be congratulated and AFC Energy is very proud to be associated with such a landmark initiative.”
Which, granted, the hydrogen generator (and hydrogen, in general) isn’t perfect, but I think you’d be hard pressed to make the case that conventional diesel generators are a superior solution in these, well, “extreme” sort of scenarios. I mean, right?
You can watch the Extreme E promotional video for yourself, below, then scroll past some Odyssey 21 pictures on your way to telling us what you think of this series’ use of portable hydrogen power generators in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!
Image: Formula E.
Image courtesy of Formula E.
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