Drive your hydrogen truck Dakar. Having to wait for the last participant to leave to start. Go through the route destroyed by the passage of all vehicles. And reach the finish line at night. Racing the Dakar in a hydrogen-powered truck Possible. They showed it last year Jordi Juvanteny and José Luis Criado – Together they accumulate 63 entries, despite the conditions imposed on them by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile). They want to repeat this once again for this edition, which starts on Friday. new Mission 1000 category, For vehicles using alternative energy sources.
The plan of ASO, the organizer of Dakar, is that by 2030, almost the entire Dakar caravan will move with energy that does not pollute the environment. KH7 Epsilon, commanded by Juvanteny and Criado, became the first team to finish the Dakar as follows: as hydrogen fuel.
Two options
Because it wasn’t easy FIA removed them from the competition a few days before the exam. “We came to Arabia thinking it would be okay because we had been working all year, but when we arrived the FIA had not yet approved the rules for racing with hydrogen and did not want to allow us to race.” Juvanteny explains to this newspaper.
They were given two options: remove all hydrogen and stick with diesel, or To run without interfering with others Vehicles, so we leave after the last one and without being able to help any other participants. There was no point in eliminating hydrogen after working with this innovation all year. They chose the second option and completed the Dakar. “Was it someone a very important challengebut it turned out very well,” says Juvanteny.
“Hydrogen is not more dangerous”
They passed through a difficult area where many trucks had overturned two days before. They too. But there wasn’t much of a problem: “It was good for us to capsize to show that hydrogen is not more dangerous.” compared to other fuels. Gasoline vapors are also highly flammable. “This is about taking appropriate safety precautions.”
They emitted 40% to 50% less carbon dioxide in last year’s edition. For this, with the improvements made in Dakar, They will reduce fossil fuel consumption by up to 90%. To do this, they will use a mixed system of hydrogen and HVO (vegetable oil derived from used cooking oils).
“The working principle is very similar to the original. The engine absorbs hydrogen, which provides cleaner combustion,” says Xavi Ribas, the engineer responsible for the modifications and the first person to drive the truck. team from the start. bivouac “There’s some nerves,” he says, laughing.
“This is what the planet wants from us”
“If Dakar does not go in this direction, it will die” It strongly confirms Juvanteny. “There are challenges that are difficult to solve and the FIA wants to come up with a regulation that is reliable enough. But years go by and it is not making progress and that is what the planet demands from us.” We can’t wait”To add.
Jordi Juvanteny will participate for the 32nd time and José Luis Criado will be the Spanish pilot with the most Dakar adventures with his 33rd. It is the adventurous spirit that drives them: “It is clear that this is a race and those at the front have to run a lot, but behind them there is a group that faces the Dakar as a personal or team challenge and “This challenge will remain the same, consume less diesel and consume greener energy.”explains Juvanteny.
They haven’t abandoned their trucks in the African desert since the nineties. With a single move they began to challenge the dunes compass. They now face the Dakar as an unknown in a newly created category for green cars, with a 1,000-kilometer route (100 km stages) and a different scoring system. “There is this project rejuvenated“concludes Juvanteny. Half a life in the truck negotiating the dunes.