The FIA Extreme E series has announced that its upcoming transition from electricity to hydrogen has taken a significant step ahead of next season’s first championship as Extreme H.
The car, known as Pioneer 25, has passed all the mandatory chassis-based crash tests from the FIA, becoming the first-ever hydrogen-powered car to do so.
Speaking to Racer, Mark Grain, Extreme E’s Technical Director, said:
“I am pleased to say that the Extreme H Pioneer 25 has passed its mandatory chassis FIA crash tests with flying colours.
“We shouldn’t underestimate this. It’s the first hydrogen race car that’s met stringent FIA criteria. We’ve worked with the FIA to define these crash tests and there’s been huge collaboration in order to achieve this important milestone.
“No other hydrogen racing cars have gone through crash tests like we have, so that’s a big achievement.
“The chassis itself is much stronger, however we’ve added carbon composite crash structures that are sitting over the two hydrogen tanks, and also for the side impact test we’ve got composite structures either side that are energy absorbing.
“The hydrogen high-pressure and low-pressure systems were also fitted during the tests. The systems were pressurised for both tests, and the pressures within them were monitored as live data. That was to ensure the systems were not damaged and lost pressure.”
“I’m pleased to say that in each of the tests both high and low pressures were maintained and that’s the indication that there was no damage to the hydrogen system.”
The news will come as a huge boost to the championship after last week’s development that the remainder of this season is currently on-hold, with the Sardinia and Phoenix rounds scrapped, with “alternative solutions” being looked-at.
