Gigavac by Nijkerk Electronics: Success Story

High speed with hydrogen: How the Forze Hydrogen Racing team wants to revolutionise racing

“When you’re racing, it’s life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.” This quote comes from Steve McQueen, alias Michael Delaney, in the 1971 racing movie classic “Le Mans.”

The “Forze Hydrogen Racing” team, a Dutch team of students, is also concerned with racing. Since 2006, they have been developing racing cars that are intended to be competitive in racing – but sustainable and powered by hydrogen.

Forze originates from a students’ initiative supported by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to give students the opportunity to gain professional experience under real conditions for a year and to take on one of the wide-ranging roles in the Dutch racing team. Half a century has passed since the movie “Le Mans” and, contrary to McQueen’s quote, the time between racing events is not one of waiting for the students of the “Forze Hydrogen Racing” team but represents a significant stage in their academic education.

The offices and workshop of the Forze Hydrogen Racing team are located close to the TU Delft Campus. The team initially focused on the development of hydrogen-powered go-karts. The vision of the non-profit organisation of Forze Hydrogen Racing, has ever since been to show the world that there is a very sustainable solution with great potential for today’s mobility: Hydrogen! In addition to developing zero-emission racing vehicles, students learn a lot about engineering and marketing along the way during their year-long assignment, as well as gaining basic business skills…