Agag: We will present cars for Extreme H in September

In February 2022, Alejandro Agag announced that the off-road electric Extreme E series would switch to hydrogen power stations in the future, and at the end of last summer it was announced that the first season with such machines is planned for 2025. The new series is called Extreme H and the first prototypes will be tested on the island of Sardinia in September.

In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Agag explained how the preparations for this event are going and what difficulties need to be overcome.

Question: What stage are the preparations for the debut season of the new series?
Alejandro Agag: We organize Extreme H and create a new machine that is in development. But intensive testing is planned and we plan to present the car at the Extreme E round on the island of Sardinia in September.

Question: How many of these cars are you going to take to Sardinia?
Alejandro Agag: Four or five, because this is a good opportunity not only to test new equipment, but also to demonstrate it to everyone. This car is larger than the Odyssey 21 SUVs we use in Extreme E, but will only have room for the driver and the driver’s seat will be central.

Question: Last September you signed an important agreement with the French company Symbio for the supply of hydrogen fuel cells…
Alejandro Agag: Symbio is a leader in hydrogen technology for transport and will provide us with 75kW fuel cells that will replace batteries as our primary energy source. Behind the scenes at Extreme E, hydrogen technology is even used to charge car batteries. Symbio has already started mass production of fuel cells at its newest factory, the SymphonHy Gigafactory. This is the largest such factory in Europe.

Question: How should hydrogen be delivered to the race locations?
Alejandro Agag: Negotiations on this are still ongoing, but we can already say with certainty that hydrogen will not be transported by our ship St. Helena, which transports cars and equipment of our championship. Hydrogen may only be transported in a liquid state, such as methanol or ammonia, after which it is converted into a gaseous state on site. In particular, we are negotiating the supply of the necessary equipment for refueling cars with Enowa, which already cooperates with the Extreme E series.

Question: This year the series lost four teams, but added two new ones, one of which was American…
Alejandro Agag: That’s right, one of these teams, Sun Minimeal, is also working with Nico Rosberg’s team. But the owners also wanted to organize their own team. For us, the performance of the American Legacy MC team is very important, it was organized by Jimmie Johnson, who has seven NASCAR titles to his name.

The US is a very important market for us, and we have wanted to hold races in this country for a long time, even though it has its own logistical problems. But we continue to work hard in preparation for the American Extreme E event, scheduled for the end of November. In particular, it is necessary to think separately about organizing places for spectators, because in America it is impossible to imagine a race without fans.