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First hydrogen fuel-cell car race

After winning the first leg of the Formula Zero championship, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands wants to make hydrogen cars a reality.

This car own the first ever hydrogen fuel cell car race.

Photo: Richard Van T Hof

The race to make hydrogen-powered cars a reality is on, and so far the winner is Greenchoice-Forze from the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology. In August, the team won the first leg of the Formula Zero Championship, the world’s first competition among hydrogen vehicles. The car hit speeds of 60 miles (110 kilometers) an hour, beating teams from the U.S., Spain, Britain and Belgium. “Our team can say we were the first to race on hydrogen,” says Edgar van Os, team founder and manager. All the vehicles run on electricity from chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen; the only emission is water vapor. The championship includes four races, taking place in Spain in December of this year and the U.S. and England in March and April of 2009. “It’s been such a great opportunity to work at the front lines of this technology,” says Van Os. “Our future is in this.”