Honda Brings Hydrogen to the Race to the Clouds
Yesterday Acura announced the brand’s entrant into the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo. Today, it is Honda’s turn.
To compete in the 103rd running of the race that ends at a 14,115-foot summit after 156-turns, through a 12.42-mile mountain course, Honda will be bringing the Honda CR-V e:FCEV. The e:FCV refers to this being Honda’s hydrogen-powered version of the brand’s popular SUV, and according to the company, it will be the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to compete at Pikes Peak.
A Different Kind of CR-V
The CR-V e:FCEV is unlike regular CR-V models, as it is hand-built at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio. It’s powered by a 174-horsepower motor making 229 lb.-ft. of torque. It’s part of Honda’s second-generation fuel cell system that features a front-mounted single-motor, 17.7 kWh battery pack, and two high-pressure hydrogen tanks.
The hill climb version of the vehicle is prepped for competition by engineers at Honda of America Race Team (HART), Honda R&D Japan, and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US). For competition, the only modifications made to the hydrogen powered CR-V are a 1-inch lowered suspension, racing brake pads, light weight 18-inch wheels and 265/45R18 Yokohama Advan A052 tires. The vehicle’s powertrain remains unchanged.
Of course, to protect the driver, HART also equipped the CR-V e:FCEV with the necessary safety equipment. This includes items like a proper racing seat and safety roll cage. Driving the SUV up the mountain with be a former Pikes Peak class-winner and two-time Formula Drift champion, Dai Yoshihara.
This will be Yoshihara third time racing at Pikes Peak, and he hopes to finish on the podium for a third straight time and win once again. In 2023 he raced for HRC in the TC America Championship where he has won multiple races, coming 4th in the championship. Last year, Yoshihara raced a Civic Type R TCR in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Not Honda’s First Rodeo
For the Pikes Peak Hill Climb on June 22nd, the 2025 CR-V e:FCEV will be competing in the “exhibition class”. Honda has been competing with various zero-emissions vehicles at Pikes Peak for quite awhile now, starting in 1994 when the company entered an EV-converted Honda Civic wagon in the first-ever “EV Class”.
Honda came first in class that year and did so again five years later, repeating the feat once again in 2014. In 2015, Honda unleashed a more potent four-motor EV concept based on the Honda CR-Z. It won the Exhibition Class with a time of 10:23.8. A year later, an NSX-bodied concept shaved off nearly a minute and a half from that time, finishing in 9-minute 9:06.1.
The hydrogen CR-V the brand is entering this year won’t finish anywhere near those times, but we’re still interested to see how it competes later this month.
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A 20+ year industry veteran, Mike rejoins the AutoGuide team as the Managing Editor. He started his career at a young age working at dealerships, car rentals, and used car advertisers. He then found his true passion, automotive writing. After contributing to multiple websites for several years, he spent the next six years working at the head office of an automotive OEM, before returning back to the field he loves. He is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA). He's the recipient of a feature writing of the year award and multiple video of the year awards.
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