After a couple of hell-raising concept iterations, Alpine's hydrogen combustion fire-and-ice Alpenglow super-racer is finally prepped and revved to take the track. It'll make its dynamic debut next month at the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours endurance event in Belgium, running its hydrogen combustion engine on its first public outing.
While some auto industry insiders and observers have all but dismissed hydrogen's potential as a planet-protecting solution, a few notable players have been quite actively pursuing its use, both for fuel cell-electric powertrains and H2-fueled combustion engines. There's been particular interest in hydrogen combustion in the racing world, where traditionalists are loath to see the visceral feel and thundering roar of the combustion engine vanish in favor of a more sterile all-electric racing future.
Toyota has gotten out of the gate early as a major tinkerer in fuel cells and H2-combustion race engines, and Alpine's parent company Renault has been another steady voice behind H2. While Renault itself has been busy partnering up on hydrogen fuel cell vans, Alpine has been looking at the potential for hydrogen combustion in motorsport and production sports cars.
Alpine first presented the fittingly named Alpenglow concept at the 2022 Paris Motor Show. Like its namesake, the car featured eerie but beautifully vivid light flooding out to highlight the ridges and crannies of its frosty, powerful mass. Lifted barely higher than a vacuum cleaner, the concept stood just 3.3 feet (1 m) off the ground to its arched cockpit roof and featured a large volume of empty air-channeling space exceeded only, perhaps, by the huge bulges enveloping its wheels.
The Alpenglow concept was a forward-looking piece of design work meant to bleed into both the production and motorsport sides of Alpine, and its influence is already being felt.
Sadly, from the first side-eyed peek Alpine has provided of its "all-new design," the Alpenglow race car has lost the dramatic light blades that defined the concept. Instead, it has a set of bowties that appears to mimic the spark-like lamps that erupted out across the concept's front-end.
On a positive note, the revised race-ready car appears to keep the concept's spindly hourglass figure and at least some of its open, air-gulping bodywork, adding a hood scoop to boot.
Alpine says that it will first hold a static reveal of the Alpenglow at Spa-Francorchamps on May 10, getting behind the wheel for a dynamic debut on May 11. As much as we look forward to seeing the new design, we really hope Alpine will share an odd detail or two about the hydrogen engine itself. It's remained rather silent on the matter thus far.
Formula One has also committed to exploring hydrogen's potential for motorsport. This past December, it teamed with the FIA and Extreme H (previously Extreme E) to form the Hydrogen Working Group. The group will include members from each organization tasked with evaluating developments and potential applications for hydrogen in motorsport and mobility at large. Their work will look at hydrogen as a fuel source for both the race cars themselves and for powering supporting vehicles and infrastructure.
Extreme H announced the transition from all-electric off-road racing to a hydrogen fuel cell-electric series in 2022. It will host the world's first hydrogen off-road racing championship in 2025, with plans in place to potentially serve as an FIA Championship during the inaugural season and an FIA World Championship in 2026.
Source: Alpine