Hydrogen-Electric Racing Series Proposed

With an eye towards advancing future hydrogen-based propulsion technologies and restoring racing as a medium for production vehicle development, a new motorsports sanctioning body is calling on auto makers to participate in a new racing series for hydrogen-electric-powered vehicles.

Called the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF), the organization is the brainchild of automotive industry pundit Peter M. DeLorenzo of Autoextremist.com.

Also serving as HERF’s president and CEO, DeLorenzo recently delivered the proposal in suburban Detroit to a bevy of auto maker executives and racing figureheads.

“It is time for the automobile industry to take its advanced research away from the reassuring glare of the computer screen and out of the sterile environment of the research laboratory, and let innovation and technical creativity run free and unfettered on the racetrack,” DeLorenzo says.

In addition, the new competition format would serve as a reset button for the template of modern auto racing, returning it to the glory days of when “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday” was less a cliche than a business practice.

“The concept of racing hydrogen fuel cell-powered machines is unprecedented and historic, simply because for the first time in many, many years, racing will undertake a key role in the development of radical new technologies for production vehicles that are still on the horizon,” DeLorenzo says.

The format for the series will be unique, adopting aspects of open-wheel, sports car and endurance racing disciplines.

The inaugural 500-mile (805-km) event, dubbed the Hydrogen 500, currently is set for May 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with another oval track race following later in the year.

The schedule will expand to include venues outside the U.S., such as Europe, China and Japan, with three races expected in 2010 (two ovals, one road course) and five races in 2011 (three ovals, two road courses), HERF says.

As for the racecars, they will be individual, closed-wheel prototypes aimed at challenging automotive engineers on several fronts: creative packaging of components for racing-duty; improving hydrogen-fuel storage, delivery and refueling; thermal and energy management of electronic systems; and improving overall speed, performance, fuel economy and endurance.

Unlike most tightly restricted racing organizations, HERF will allow participants to configure and construct their vehicles in almost any way they see fit. This nearly “free” construction concept is geared toward fostering greater creativity and exploring new ways of packaging fuel-cell and racing components, DeLorenzo says.

Specifics of the future HERF racers, which are expected to lap Indianapolis at more than 185 mph (298 km/h), include a combined output of at least 400 hp; a 1,984-lb. (900-kg) minimum weight; “by-wire” (electronic) controls for steering, throttle and brakes; and an 18-lb. (8-kg) on-board supply of hydrogen pressurized at 10,000 psi (689 bar).

Tires and fuel will be the same for all teams, with primary suppliers of each currently being sought out and evaluated, HERF says.

The 2-year lead time for the start of the series should be adequate for many of the finer points of the effort to be ironed out, while also allowing manufacturers sufficient time to develop competitive vehicles, DeLorenzo says, noting the concept was well received by several major auto makers and racing organizations.

Although nothing is certain, he expects several auto makers to submit letters of intent to compete by the April 10 deadline, which will commit them to fielding two cars in each of the scheduled events for three years.

“The onset of the electrification of the automobile is presenting us with a rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate the development schedule of the hydrogen-electric fuel cell-powered vehicle, while at the same time allowing us to reinvent and reposition the sport of racing to be more relevant than it has been in decades,” DeLorenzo says.

[email protected]