Historic achievement for HyDriven at the Red Bull Ring

Red Bull Ring – Student team HyDriven from the University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences made history last week at Formula Student Austria at the Red Bull Ring. Competing with a hydrogen-electric race car, HyDriven became the first hydrogen team ever to complete all dynamic events of the competition, including the prestigious 22-kilometre Endurance event.

Formula Student is the world’s largest international engineering competition for students. Every year, hundreds of student teams from around the world design, build and race their own race cars. While most teams compete with fully electric cars or combustion-powered cars, HyDriven stands out as the only team competing with a hydrogen-electric race car powered by a fuel cell.

All dynamic events successfully completed

During the competition, HyDriven completed all dynamic events: Acceleration, Skidpad, Autocross and the 22-kilometre Endurance. These events put the car’s acceleration, speed, cornering performance and endurance to the test. In addition to the dynamic events, the team also competed in the static events: Engineering Design, Business Plan Presentation and Cost & Manufacturing. By completing all events, HyDriven became the first hydrogen team in Formula Student history to achieve this milestone.

Two awards

The historic achievement was recognised with no fewer than two awards. HyDriven received an award for becoming the first hydrogen team to complete all dynamic events. In addition, the team won the Efficiency Award, making HyDriven the most efficient of the 38 electric teams competing in the competition. This is a remarkable achievement, particularly given that HyDriven was the only team competing with a hydrogen fuel cell.

Behind this achievement is a team of thirty students from the University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences. Over the past year, they spent an average of more than forty hours per week designing, building, testing and optimising the race car. After months of intensive preparation, their hard work was rewarded at the Red Bull Ring with a historic milestone and two prestigious awards.

Hydrogen gains ground in Formula Student

The achievement is particularly significant as three hydrogen teams competed in Formula Student Austria this year. HyDriven is the only team using a hydrogen-electric powertrain based on a fuel cell. The other two teams, KA-RaceIng and Esslingen, use hydrogen combustion engines. Interest in hydrogen is growing within the competition: last year, two hydrogen teams took part, while Esslingen joined for the first time this season. HyDriven became the first hydrogen team to complete all dynamic events of the competition successfully.

Formula Student Austria was HyDriven’s second competition of the season. At the end of August, the team will travel to the Transpolis Circuit in Lyon, France, for its final competition of the season. There, HyDriven aims to demonstrate once again that hydrogen is a promising and reliable energy source for the future of mobility.