This partnership involves the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), FIA Formula One World Championship, and Extreme E, who will be transitioning to Extreme H. Altogether, the well-known companies will work together to create a Hydrogen Working Group.

As the group will be a joint collaboration, the project will be jointly led by a representative from each organisation. From Extreme E, the Technical Director, Mark Grain, F1’s Chief Technical Officer, Pat Symonds and the FIA Single Seater Director, Nikolas Tombazis, are the members who have been selected to lead this project. The benefits of all three companies working collectively on this project, is that each company will bring and use their expertise. This will result in a strong collaboration, developed through the sharing and mixing of all kinds of expertise and skills. The team will evaluate developments, along with conducting continuous research and experiments, to help them find all the potential applications for hydrogen within motorsports. This work will also highlight the potential for hydrogen within other areas of the mobility industry.

This project will commence in 2025 and from the beginning the companies will watch and monitor the progression, changes and developments of hydrogen technology within fuel cells and battery systems, which will be used by the companies. These fuel cells and battery systems will be used during Extreme H’s first-generation racing chassis, as well as in the hydrogen technology which will be used within the race site, such as in its infrastructure, transportation and charging.

When asked about the project, Grain said that working with F1 and the FIA, to help Extreme E transition into Extreme H, is a “privilege”. Grain commented, “Our transition to Extreme H makes us the pioneers and first-ever testbed of hydrogen technology in motorsport – not only in our racing cars, but also transportation, infrastructure, refuelling processes and safety regulations. It’s a ground-breaking initiative and we look forward to collaborating with F1 and Pat both technically and operationally, as we continue to champion new technologies and break boundaries on behalf of motorsport, with hydrogen at the forefront.”

Symonds added, “With climate change mitigation at the forefront of everyone’s mind we are committed to promoting sustainability and therefore need to explore all areas of decarbonisation of the mobility sector. This must include sustainable liquid hydrocarbon fuels, electrification and hydrogen. This Working Group enables a collaboration which will allow us to gain first-hand experience and contribute to the understanding and development of the many aspects of hydrogen propulsion that Extreme H will embrace.”

Extreme E CEO, Alejandro Agag, said that since beginning the transition to Extreme H, the results have shown that Extreme H “can demonstrate that hydrogen is a very viable technology for the future, and also for racing.”