GCK Motorsport unveils first hydrogen prototype

GCK Motorsport follows its roadmap to the letter. The French team led by Guerlain Chicherit unveiled this Saturday, January 8 in the Dakar 2022 bivouac in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) the first prototype vehicle rally-raid equipped with a fuel cell.

The sports branch of the Green Corp Konnection (GCK) group presented a two-wheel drive buggy running on hydrogen, as part of the Dakar Future energy transition program. This is not the e-Blast H2 version, the 3D rendering of which was sent last fall, but from a first version.

The fuel cell is powered by hydrogen at 700 bars, the final volume of 30 kg of which will be stored in four R134 certified tanks to provide 200 kW of energy. It is also directly connected to the latest generation of lithium-ion battery produced in-house and generating 50 kWh. The new GCK electric motor equipped with 2 speeds was designed to achieve 320kW, the equivalent of 430 horsepower.

A first adaptation of the chassis was also carried out to meet the requirements for the integration of this new powertrain. These developments will allow the GCK e-Blast H2 to complete a 250 km special powered entirely by green energy. This will involve refueling during the refueling break, like the motorcycles and SSVs currently on the Dakar.

“We are very proud to present the very first hydrogen-powered rally raid competition car equipped with a fuel cell, commented Eric Boudot, Managing Director of Green Corp Konnection and GCK Motorsport. Motorsport represents for Green Corp Konnection a formidable innovation laboratory for developing technological solutions that we will then be able to offer to users through our industrial activities. We are very enthusiastic about participating in the #DakarFuture movement and thus setting new milestones on the path to ecological solutions for mobility. ".

While GCK will once again enter the World Championship of rallycross (World RX) with an electric Lancia Delta Eve-E as well as in the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) with Guerlain Chicherit's Thunder, the development of the hydrogen model will continue in 2022.

In the months following the 2022 Dakar, GCK Motorsport will develop the fuel cell and the car through bench and dynamic testing. During the second part of the year, an extensive testing program in real rally raid conditions, focused on optimizing the powertrain, will lead the team to participate in certain stages of the 2023 Dakar with the car. hydrogen.