Dubbed Alpenglow, the concept car originally revealed in 2022 was described as the “starting point” of all of Alpine’s future designs.
Details about the single-seater are thin on the ground, but at five metres long, the car will hold two 700-bar hydrogen tanks to fuel the hydrogen ICE for its three laps of the 4.35-mile Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on May 11, 2024.
Having hosted 56 Formula 1 Grand Prix since its first race in 1950, the circuit combines long straights and fast technical corners, including the famous Raidillon de l’Eau Rogue.
Alpine said, “Alpenglow embodies the future of Alpine design in motorsport, as well as for future series production models. It is also the brand’s laboratory for future sustainable mobility technologies with a hydrogen-powered ICE that will enhance driving pleasure tenfold.”
As Alpine hopes its new hydrogen-powered Alpenglow will show staying power at Spa, perhaps it will inspire the Alpine F1 Team to find its winning formula that lasts longer than their recent venture on track.
Hydrogen driving motorsports towards sustainability
© Extreme E
Worth $5.11bn in 2022 and projected to reach a valuation of $7.47bn by 2028, the motorsports industry is in race to reduce its emissions and secure its future – with hydrogen’s role increasingly edging to the forefront of plans.
he pinnacle of motorsports, Formula 1 (F1), amassed an average viewership of 1.11 million per race in the 2023 season, whilst the viewing figures for the first 12 races of the 2023 season in MotoGP saw a 20% audience increase from 2022, proving the scale of the motorsports market.
In 2019, F1 launched its Net Zero Carbon by 2030 initiative, after an extensive report into the championship’s environmental impact found it was responsible for generating 256,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during the 2019 season.
F1’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA), established seven new engine regulations from 2026, such as F1 power units running on fully sustainable fuels, which has been researched and tested by the organisation and its partner ARAMCO.
Electric off-road racing competition, Extreme E, signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the FIA in August (2023), with intentions to establish the first hydrogen-powered racing world championship, Extreme H…
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