Developing the first hydrogen-powered kart!
Engineers have to innovate and speed up deployment of clean vehicles to keep up with a changing automotive world. ESTACA students are already involved in this process and are preparing for this energy transition. Source Hydrogen Racing is a new student project which aims to develop the first hydrogen-powered kart to compete in the FFSA French Karting Championship by 2024!
A hydrogen-powered kart to compete in the endurance category of the FFSA French Karting Championship
The Source Hydrogen Racing team intends to combine hydrogen with motor racing. Some 20 students, divided into several sections, are working to develop the world’s first hydrogen-powered kart to compete against internal combustion models in the FFSA French championship. The kart will run in the endurance category, which is where hydrogen will find its full potential!
Helped by ESTACA’LAB’s teacher-researchers working on hydrogen motorization, the first design steps will be to design the kart’s engine and then the chassis.
In order to build a race-ready kart, the team will also have to work on its hybrid philosophy. A battery to power to kart. The fuel cell will have to take over to enhance the kart’s autonomy over time.
A first in competition karting
Discussions are currently underway to take part in the competition as hydrogen is not yet used in karting. The project should be operational by 2024.
Hydrogen offers good autonomy, but for performance it is very new, and the Source Hydrogen Racing team wants to take up this challenge. They also want to illustrate the capacities of hydrogen to encourage a technological innovation that could have many applications in the transport world.
The Source Hydrogen Racing team is hosted by the iDrogen association, which develops new energy-efficient engines. The association already developed a hydrogen vehicle which competes every year in the Shell Eco marathon.
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