FORZE HYDROGEN RACING: Modern Energy Powers Future of Motorsport, Mobility & More

When Formula E hosted its first event in China in 2014, it was clear that motorsport was moving in a new direction, embracing the energy transition that has been underway in wider society for many years. Ditching traditional internal combustion engines for all-electric motors, the sport quickly gained popularity, proving that zero emissions racers can be just as inventive and exciting as their fossil fuelled counterparts. Ultimately, the goal of Formula E was never to compete with Formula One but to demonstrate what is possible with electric motors at the top end of performance, testing new technologies, while advancing the energy transition in the automotive industry before public rollout.

Today, electric passenger vehicles and charging infrastructure are being aggressively scaled as part of global shift to e-mobility, but there are already keen eyes looking to the next phase of the transition. For some time, it has been clear that hydrogen could and should be considered as a fuel of the future – widely available, renewable, powerful, efficient, versatile, and safe. Already used in industrial applications, hydrogen technology is being adopted quickly as governments and companies pursue decarbonisation strategies.

The first hydrogen fuel cell used in a vehicle was developed in 1966 by General Motors, and the technology has come a long way. In 2007, a specialist team of student engineers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands began a project to build a racing car powered by hydrogen. Starting out with go-karts, after 15 years of development and numerous iterations, the latest model is a marvel of engineering and brings a smile to the face of everyone who sees it. The product of Forze Hydrogen Racing, still a non-profit student-led team, the goal here is much the same as that of Formula E in its early days – to display what is possible using hydrogen as a fuel source.

The meaning of the word Forze is ‘force’ or ‘power’ and with hydrogen as its power this team looks set to become a real force in motorsport, automotive, and further afield as more and more take note of what hydrogen can do.

“The whole reason that we are building a high-performance racing car is to show what the technology can do,” says PR and Marketing Manager, Roel Breure. “A race car is visible and attracts a lot of attention, giving us an opportunity to explain our message about hydrogen and its place in the energy transition. In that way, we are already achieving our goal. Wherever we put this car, people approach, and that gives us the opportunity to explain more about what hydrogen can do.”

STUDENT ENERGY

At Forze Hydrogen Racing, based at the Delft University of Technology campus, the current focus is development of the Forze IX. Each year, the organisation receives a new intake of ambitious students who work for 12-months creating what is one of the most advanced racing cars in the world. These students challenge what is possible and display ambitions beyond what most consider realistic. In return, they receive experience working on some of the most advanced systems and components in the automotive industry, testing them to the extreme.

“We do it because we think it is a cool project and we want to progress the technology, and also it is a great learning experience with all the things you get to do and all the responsibilities you get the take on,” explains Breure, adding that it is unprecedented for students fresh from graduation to receive such opportunities.

Currently, 30 students provide a range of skills for the project – many with a keen interest in motorsport and engineering. There are obvious career progression opportunities with many ending their experience and heading into Formula One and Supercar Challenge teams, and some even harnessing their new-found skills to become entrepreneurs in the hydrogen sector, boasting a problem-solving background like few others.

“Students bring a whole lot of motivation and energy every year. It’s an intensive year and everyone knows they must push for everything they can out of it. It gives the project a start-up vibe even though there are 30 people working here full-time and 30 people working par-time alongside a very strong alumni who come and assist regularly,” details Breure.

“Many move to work into sustainability departments and renewable energy at large companies. We have also seen entrepreneurship and numerous smaller companies formed, including a business making complete fuel cell systems for small boats and other applications.”

FORZE IX

Currently, many of the world’s prominent automakers have invested in fuel cell vehicle (FCV) production with a number of countries also developing hydrogen filling networks. The advantage he is that, in passenger vehicles, refuelling is very similar to that of a traditional car and fantastic range can be achieved. Compressed hydrogen gas feeds into an onboard fuel cell stack which, instead of burning the gas, transforms chemical energy into electrical power to fuel motors. Inside the latest Forze model, an entirely new and advanced system has been developed to replace that used in Forze VIII, going beyond what might be expected in a passenger vehicle, performing at the cutting edge. Currently in development, Breure expects a workable prototype to be ready in the coming months.

“Forze IX is in the testing and assembly phase,” he says. “We are installing the balance of plant and that means for both sides of the fuel cell system – anode and cathode, and also includes the cooling, control systems, software, and safety systems. By the end of the summer, we hope to have an operational fuel cell system which means that the car will generate its own electricity onboard and that would be a major milestone.”

At the same time, there is a lot of work being done on the power train and other related systems with the company taking experience from previous models, right back to its early days manufacturing go-karts.

“With Forze IX, we are decoupling and we will have something brand new. So much progress has been made since the build of Forze VIII that we can fit more than double the power in the same space and all of the components are better. It has become twice the car but in the same space and that meant there was not a lot that we could shift from the previous car,” says Breure, adding that the hope is for Forze IX to reach 300km/h, considerably faster than Forze VIII which can achieve 210km/h.

Right now, the student team is targeting ‘racing conditions’ by Spring 2023, where the car will be sent to compete on the track in races in the Netherlands. Initial races will not see the team aiming for the podium, and will be more about gathering data and learning so that improvements can be made. All at Forze are clear that this a long-term project and requires many small steps to achieve its goal.

“We expect that when we first get the car on the track, there will be issues,” admits Breure. “We will then resolve them and the process will start again. That is the reason that we are so transparent – we are an experimental team and we don’t want to give people the idea that out of nowhere we have created a Le Mans prototype racing car. We want to show that it is an iterative process and we are learning so much every day.

“This is how you know there is progress being made. You can’t make progress without learning, and if you’re making a lot of progress then you are also learning a lot.”

Because of the differences in build, there are challenges getting a hydrogen powered race car around a track. While its speed is not in question – it will likely match a combustion car for lap time but see differences across various sectors – the handling, braking, and acceleration are all areas under the microscope for team Forze.

“It’s quite heavy,” smiles Breure. “Compared to an internal combustion car, which has been iterated for hundreds of years, it is impossible for us to get that power to weight ratio and that has a lot of influence on the handling. We do a lot with regenerative braking where most of the braking we do is regenerative. The new car will be four-wheel drive as we can get back a lot more energy with regeneration from electric motors. This means braking is different from normal driving as there is not a lot of mechanical braking. You have to start braking earlier and you lose time, but you get back a lot of power when exiting the corner and your acceleration is great.”

FLOATING ON PARTNERSHIPS

As a student-led team, Forze Hydrogen Racing is not a commercial business and does not report to shareholders. Instead, it builds long-term partnerships with businesses that can collaborate. For these partners, the data generated provides unique insight into performance.

“We work with a lot of different partners and there is a lot of effort to get financing complete but there is not a trajectory towards becoming a profitable business,” says Breure. “Our goal is to make a point about the power of hydrogen.”

With 120 partners in place, ranging from component to finance to consultancy, Forze provides a unique platform for analysis. High pressure and heat, g-force stress, sound tension, and humidity challenges can be lab-tested, but real time data about in-situ performance is rare.

“The car is basically a laboratory on wheels,” says Breure. “Most of these components have never been used in a racing car before so the manufacturers model the performance of their parts at lab level, and our experience gets them information about performance at the extremes – this is very valuable data – the whole project floats on their input.”

Even during the toughest of times, when the world was forced to close as a result of the pandemic, Forze’s partners remained committed to the project. As the student team worked remotely, doing all they could to design a novel racing car, obvious challenges were realised.

“The reason that our team can do what it does, and how there is so much energy, is because of collaboration and that is what was taken away through Covid,” Breure remembers. “It is hard to work on the development of a racing car while the energy that keeps you going is moved to Zoom calls. It is definitely not as rewarding compared to being here and walking around when you can see all the cool stuff happening.”

Admitting that the team would like to be further along with development of Forze IX, Breure highlights the immense challenges that come with such a project. “It is the challenge with building something that is completely new – you never know long things will take; that is also why we want to be transparent about how much of work it takes to develop such a concept.”

He says that many people see a problem and see something that is made to solve the problem, but they miss the progress and the mistakes and the learning that happens along the way – all key in the journey to a solution. The various iterations of the Forze car represent a long learning process that will not end anytime soon.

“Our main goal is promoting hydrogen technology,” he reiterates. “We do that for the general public with an attractive racing car, but also for organisations with the data they can get out of it, and then for governments. All three have to work together to make things happen. The industry needs subsidies and legislation, the government needs demand and information, and the public needs to accept that hydrogen is a safe and reliable technology as they are the ones who will eventually buy hydrogen cars or trucks. There is an important interface between them all. If you only have industry and politics interested, you will only see hydrogen in heavy industrial applications and normal consumers will never see anything. While that is good, it would be better if hydrogen was applicable in situations where consumers are involved and having faith in the technology – for example, for the heating of homes.”

Projects like the Forze Hydrogen Racing car do not only show technology for automotive application – it displays that a hydrogen fuel cell can be used safely, even at peak levels of performance, under great strain. As innovation bolsters this equipment, and decarbonisation and net-zero goals become more intense, new solutions will be required on a large scale. Already tested and proven, hydrogen is clearly a part of the energy mix of the future.

“We are now a long way into the building phase and there are a lot of cool things happening,” Breure says of progress with the latest model.

Asked if the organisation has plans to extend its reach beyond motorsport into other industry sectors, he is motivated but clear on the current mission: “We are not concretely looking at anything else at this stage but it is something that plays in the back of our minds.

“At this point, we are building a very high-performance race car that must do a lot more than a standard car or truck. We give the suppliers of components a great deal of knowledge of how their parts perform in high-performance power trains, and that gives the industry experience and excitement.”

The brand promises much – ‘this is the future of motorsports’ it claims. But more widely, it seems obvious that hydrogen systems, with water as the only by-product, are the next step in the global transition, and Forze is highlighting what is achievable with the fastest hydrogen-electric race car on the plant.