Hyundai has announced a collaboration with Forze Hydrogen Racing, a Dutch student team that designs, builds and competes hydrogen electric racing cars to promote the fuel cell mobility.
This year Forze will finish the first iteration of Forze IX with one balance of plant. Then, in 2022, the team will implement the second balance and finish the car. Once finished, it is expected to be the world’s fastest fuel cell electric racing car.
The Forze IX is expected to have a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), and an acceleration from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in less than three seconds. Weighing 1,500 kg, the Forze IX will carry two fuel cell systems with a total combined output of 240 kW, and an accumulator with a maximum boost power of 600 kW (805 hp), and all-wheel drive.
The development of the Forze IX will now see the involvement and advice that comes from the Hyundai team that helped develop the roadgoing Hyundai NEXO, one of the best-selling fuel cell vehicles in the world. Engineers from Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center (HMETC) in Rüsselsheim, Germany will provide their expertise, experience and support to the student innovators from the Forze team.
“Forze is an exciting team made up of some of the brightest young minds, and with a proven pedigree of bringing fuel cell mobility to the race track,” says Tyrone Johnson, Head of Vehicle Development at Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center. “Hyundai is delighted to enter into this partnership with Forze. By drawing on our leadership in fuel cell mobility and Forze’s ambition to take hydrogen to the next level, together we will push the boundaries of what’s possible in the development of zero-emissions racing.”
The Forze Motorsport team consists of more than 60 students from Technische Universiteit Delft (Delft University of Technology) in the Netherlands, with a wide variety of educational backgrounds. They work a year full- or part-time to gain experience in the Forze team and particularly in the field of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Hyundai, on the other hand, brings its decades of experience and leadership in innovation and the development of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
