Glickenhaus Turns to Cryogenic Hydrogen for the Boot

Wesley Wren
·2 min read
Photo credit: Glickenhaus
Photo credit: Glickenhaus

  • The SCG Hydrogen Boot helps give the range and freedom required for off-road endurance racing to an electric driveline.

  • The SCG Hydrogen Boot uses cryogenic supercritical hydrogen fuel, which the company can't store or currently source.

  • Powertrain details are limited for the SCG Hydrogen Boot but the company is looking at the viability of hydrogen fuels in competition.

Update: Glickenhaus announces that it plans to use exchangeable cryogenic hydrogen tanks. The company plans for these tanks to be swappable like the propane tanks you use for your gas grill, and will also be DOT compliant. The company also has a targeted $100,000 MSRP.

Electrification is following road cars off-road. Yet while a short-range EV might work for, say, Extreme E, the folks running through the desert in a SCORE race like the Baja 1000 might not have access to quick charging when the battery starts to run low. Perhaps the most obvious solution to the problem of taking EVs endurance racing would be to use designated, geo-located charging stations that double as checkpoints.

There’s also another way: hydrogen. At least the folks at Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus think so and have updated their off-road racing Boot to fit the bill.

The aptly named Hydrogen Boot is essentially an off-road hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle based on the company's Boot. While hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have obvious constraints in the United States because of fueling infrastructure, the technology could be the solution to bringing off-road endurance racing closer to zero emissions.

Photo credit: Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus
Photo credit: Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus

That said, details are light on this Hydrogen Boot. What we do know is that this Boot will use cryogenic supercritical hydrogen, which essentially means it will be a liquid fuel. But there’s a catch: Glickenhaus doesn’t have access to the fuel to test its Hydrogen Boot. And even if the team could find a source for this relatively exotic fuel, the company doesn’t have adequate onboard storage for the Boot to maintain its required low temperature. Glickenhaus even notes that there aren’t exactly clear FIA regulations surrounding hydrogen’s use in off-road competition.

That all adds up to this Hydrogen Boot being ambitious at best. The company could yet pivot to a more traditional hydrogen fuel cell storage system to test this off-road machine. We’re excited to see what develops.

Do you think hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have a place in off-road racing? Do you think this Hydrogen Boot will ever see a race? Let us know your thoughts below.