Extreme E unveils hydrogen car for next season – same specs, 305kg heavier
Extreme E, the electric off-road racing series, is transitioning to using hydrogen instead of batteries for the 2025 season, and today it unveiled the car it plans to use next year – when it will also change its name to Extreme H.
Extreme E is in the midst of its fourth season right now, having had the first race weekend in Saudi Arabia and with the second race weekend coming up in Scotland, July 13-14.
In the past three seasons, we’ve been treated to some pretty wild off-road racing, with powerful electric cars bouncing over desert sand dunes, glaciers, beaches, and even an old coal mine.
It’s been exciting to watch, but the series also has a sustainability message – each location is meant to highlight an ecological issue we’re all facing, and the series also does a “legacy programme” where it participates in attempting to solve some local conservation issue (e.g. mangrove or ocean seagrass preservation, wildfires, glacier melt, or so on).
To this end, the series also focuses on being sustainable in its own practices. Cars are shipped from race to race on the St. Helena, an ship converted to use more sustainable technologies and to serve as a research lab for the scientists the series partners with. And the series tries to create less waste in each of its locations, with everyone bringing their own reusable plates and silverware for example.
And since it races in remote locations, it needs to get energy from somewhere. The cars don’t just charge themselves. So the series has been using green hydrogen – made with renewable energy, as opposed to the majority of hydrogen which comes from methane gas – to charge vehicles, with large transportable fuel cells (and second life batteries for backup) bringing power to areas where the grid doesn’t reach.
So, for season 5, Extreme E is “cutting out the middle man” and just going straight from hydrogen to electric power onboard the car, instead of charging a battery with an offboard fuel cell. And here’s next season’s vehicle, which Extreme E – or rather, Extreme H, as it will be known starting in 2025 – is calling the “Pioneer 25.”
Extreme H unveils Pioneer 25 race car
The Pioneer 25 shares a lot of similarities with the outgoing Odyssey 21 car.
They both have ~400kW/550hp worth of power available, can do 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of ~200kph (~124mph), and can scale a slope of up to 130% (53º). So in terms of the basic specs, the cars seem quite close.
But there are a couple small differences that we can see so far. The Odyssey 21 was 2.3 meters wide, and the Pioneer 25 is 2.4 meters. The Odyssey had two “seats,” with the driver offset to the left, whereas the Pioneer seats the driver in the center.
And the biggest difference of all – Extreme E said that the Odyssey weighs 1,895kg (we’re not sure if this includes the driver or not), but it says that the Pioneer weighs 2,200kg, a 305kg (672lb) increase.
That’s a massive difference, especially for a race car, and especially if the cars have the same power available. We’re not sure how they can quote the same 0-60 time with such a weight difference and no difference in motor power (torque is not listed, but is likely the same given that battery electric (BEV) and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) both run on electric motors, so we’d imagine they’re carrying over the same or similar motors).
And we’re also not sure where all that weight is coming from. One of the supposed benefits of hydrogen is higher energy density, which means less need for heavy EV batteries. But an FCEV needs two more parts that a BEV doesn’t – a fuel cell stack and a high-pressure hydrogen tank. FCEV’s also have a battery to act as a buffer for the fuel cell stack, but it can be a lot smaller than on a full BEV.
But the Odyssey only had 54kWh (40kWh usable) of batteries onboard to begin with – relatively small in the scheme of EV batteries these days. Off-road racing is energy intense, but races for the series aren’t very long, so 40kWh is enough. So cutting battery size could save some weight, but not all that much.
So perhaps the Pioneer still has a relatively large battery (as larger batteries can push more power), and the additional weight of a fuel cell stack and high pressure tank – the last of which has to be pretty heavy duty to hold hydrogen, especially in the difficult racing conditions Extreme H will be racing in (a 700 bar, 4-6kg capacity tank is around 100kg – the Pioneer has a 2kg tank, but may be reinforced more for racing purposes).
Extreme H says that “overall performance of the car has taken a big step forward,” and that the suspension geometry of the car has been fully redesigned. The Odyssey also saw changes over its lifetime, changing suspension suppliers last season to FOX, and the Extreme H will also use FOX suspension.
But we’re still not sure how a car with identical power and much more weight can perform better. Let’s go ahead and put a pin in that for when we see these cars in action.
Thankfully, we’ll have a chance soon. The Pioneer 25 will go on its first public test at the Hydro X Prix in Scotland on July 13-14.
Extreme H also announced a provisional list of race locations for next year, with races in Saudi Arabia, UK, Germany, Italy, and USA.
Electrek’s Take
I think that most of our readers recognize at this point that hydrogen is not going to take off in consumer vehicles. If this series wants to push hydrogen as an idea for consumer cars, or for sportscars, it’s… probably not going to go anywhere.
However, for the race series’ specific use case, it makes some amount of sense. The series was already using hydrogen anyway, and hydrogen is a lot more portable than batteries for places with no grid. And Extreme E thinks it has made its point, demonstrated that BEVs are capable of this type of racing, and can move on to something new now.
But the fact that this move has resulted in such a huge weight gain for the cars is puzzling to me. While I have seen extremely heavy tanks on fuel cell vehicles before (e.g. the Nikola Tre FCEV class 8 truck has four tanks weighing 450lb each, a fuel cell stack and a 164kWh buffer battery, and the Honda CR-V e:FCEV is 1,000lbs heavier than the gas CR-V), you don’t normally see racing/sports cars gaining such enormous amounts of weight in the span of one generation (the 1,000+lb heavier 2025 BMW M5 notwithstanding).
So I struggle somewhat to see the point of this. Previously, Extreme E hosted awesome race events with a neat story, demonstrating environmental issues and showing a realistic and sustainable answer for transportation – BEVs. It fueled those BEVs with hydrogen through offboard stacks and tanks, leaving the weight and complexity of them behind in the paddock as the cars frolick around in the dirt.
Now, it’s hosting awesome race events with a neat story, demonstrating environmental issues and showing off… a transportation answer that demonstrably doesn’t make any sense, lumbering around carrying all this extra equipment that will never see the light of day at scale in consumer applications.
The one thing it could help to encourage is getting the green hydrogen economy going, since currently ~95% of the global supply of hydrogen comes from methane, a fossil fuel that is incredibly damaging from a climate perspective. Green hydrogen is generated by electrolysis of water via renewable energy, essentially using the hydrogen as a more portable but less efficient battery to store that renewable energy.
A green hydrogen economy could be useful if we ever come up with widespread uses for hydrogen (which could find a niche in heavy transport) – but those uses aren’t likely to come in consumer applications. And if they result in a 305kg weight penalty, I don’t really see them happening in racing applications either.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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