For almost a century, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has urged manufacturers to innovate for the benefit of future motorists. The quest for performance has always embraced reliability and safety. The ground-breaking innovations of the past have shaped today’s commitment to sustainable mobility. MissionH24, which aims to bring hydrogen to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, exemplifies a strategy for the future that has its roots in a fertile history. We invite you to delve into this history.

The story

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has been a prime mover in the local community since 1906, as well as a testing ground for innovative solutions for the mobility of the future. The ACO’s actions are detailed below. To preserve our future, we need to act on sustainable mobility now.

Sustainable development | 24h-lemans.com

Sustainable development

24 HOURS CENTENARY – PERPETUAL INNOVATION ⎮ With the current status of climate change, it is imperative to imagine new technologies to power cars while reducing CO2 emissions. The ACO is fully committed to this goal at the 24 Hours which has always represented a crucial test bed for technologies of the future.

Unfortunately, things are complicated. An initial&nbsp;idea was to race&nbsp;electric cars&nbsp;with zero emissions and&nbsp;high horsepower. They&#39;d have it all...except for&nbsp;the noise of internal combustion engines fans love.

Also, the evolution of batteries remains insufficient, with&nbsp;two major&nbsp;flaws: too heavy&nbsp;and still take much too long to recharge. All attempts to change those features&nbsp;have failed so far. Formula E (the FIA World Championship for 100% electric single-seaters) rounds are never longer than one hour, so a solution for a&nbsp;24-hour race remained&nbsp;elusive.

An alternative had to be found, and engineers turned to hydrogen.

<h3>The fuel cell</h3>

A fuel cell&nbsp;draws in hydrogen as fuel and oxygen from the air as an oxidizer, producing&nbsp;electricity through a chemical reaction&nbsp;with water as the only residue! The electricity produced by the heat pump is then used to power one&nbsp;or even several&nbsp;electric motors. During acceleration, the flow of hydrogen and therefore air are increased accordingly via a turbo pump and reduced by slowing down. But, due to a fairly long response time, a buffer battery is used to provide&nbsp;electricity more quickly and store it during braking (energy regeneration by the electric motor). Hydrogen then provides the electric car with the recharging speed it needs as&nbsp;this happens&nbsp;in about the&nbsp;time it takes to refuel.

JPE_1924A_05762.jpg

However, there are two problems. Firstly, hydrogen&nbsp;gas does not exist naturally and&nbsp;must be produced by chemical reaction or electrolysis,&nbsp;then stored. Secondly, its volume. It has to be stored in tanks sized compatibly&nbsp;with the cars, but that requires&nbsp;compressing&nbsp;the&nbsp;gas up to 700 times the atmospheric pressure&nbsp;in cylindrical tanks in order to withstand said pressure. Only a few kilos of hydrogen can be&nbsp;introduced into the tanks, allowing about an hour of&nbsp;driving time&hellip;

To examine the necessary requirements for&nbsp;a prototype capable&nbsp;of&nbsp;competing in the 24 Hours, Green GT, TotalEnergies and the ACO built a car. The prototype executed&nbsp;multiple test sessions, numerous demonstrations&nbsp;and even participated in a few&nbsp;European Le Mans Series races&nbsp;with performances similar to an&nbsp;LMP2. They realised they needed&nbsp;to&nbsp;optimise the dimensions and weight of the heat pump and&nbsp;buffer batteries, the size and position of the tanks, the response times of the power supply assembly produced by the turbopumps, and more.

<h3>Hydrogen for the thermal engine?</h3>

Fuel cells are not the only option. Other engineers have been working&nbsp;on substituting petrol&nbsp;for hydrogen to power internal combustion engines. The engine must be adapted to take into account the characteristics of hydrogen, i.e.&nbsp;large intake volumes, different cylinder heads, adapted compression systems, etc.&nbsp;This type of combustion engine produces no CO2&nbsp;unlike traditional petrol&nbsp;engines. Other emissions, like&nbsp;fine particles (-80%) and NOX (-50%), are also at their lowest levels. ORECA, renowned for its LMP2&nbsp;prototypes, has developed a testing bench for this type of engine, and Ligier recently&nbsp;announced&nbsp;it will&nbsp;produce the JS2 R&nbsp;competition GT&nbsp;equipped with the current V6 engine adapted for the transition to hydrogen. Called the&nbsp;JS2RH2, the car will be at the circuit on 8 June ahead of the&nbsp;24&nbsp;Hours Centenary.

PCB_2224A__L4A6445.jpg

In any case, all of these hydrogen techniques will have the opportunity to compete at Le Mans in the future. The ACO will quickly&nbsp;approve these hydrogen cars to take the start, whether equipped with a fuel cell or a hydrogen combustion engine.

On 23 May, ACO President Pierre Fillon announced the creation of a Hydrogen prototype class, approving&nbsp;both types of engines no later than 2026.

&nbsp;

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 2019-2022 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. Two generations of the ACO&#39;s hydrogen&nbsp;prototype&nbsp;(at the top), on the track in&nbsp;2019 (in the middle)&nbsp;and&nbsp;in 2022 (above).

24 Hours Centenary – Embracing hydrogen in the near future

MissionH24 is ready to launch the 2023 season with the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans on 14–15 January. The joint venture headed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and GreenGT to promote the use of hydrogen for zero-carbon racing targets the whole motorsport world, and beyond.

Energy transition concerns everyone. The LMPH2G, MissionH24&rsquo;s first hydrogen-electric race prototype will be the leading car for the grand finale of the Le Mans Virtual Series.&nbsp; It will set the pace for the extraordinary field comprising sim racers and star racing drivers, including Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, Romain Grosjean, and Gustavo Menezes. The race is expected to be shown live across Europe on Eurosport Player. The programme will be given soon.&nbsp;

MissionH24 will be taking part in Le Mans Virtual again this year, flying the flag for hydrogen at an event frequented by the whole motorsport community from the real and the sim racing worlds. Following last year&rsquo;s success, the LMPH2G&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;the first race prototype developed by H24Racing&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;will feature in the Le Mans Virtual Series as leading car for the final. The hydrogen-electric prototype will guide a remarkable group to the green flag&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;each team comprising on-track professionals and esports champions.&nbsp;By preceding the field, the LMPH2G fully embodies its role, showing the way to the future of motorsport. With MissionH24, the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest intends to create a hydrogen-specific category for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, planned for 2025.

MissionH24 has come a long way since the first virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2020. With the LMPH2G and the H24, the latest prototype developed by H24Racing, MissionH24 is demonstrating that hydrogen is reliable, efficient and exciting. In 2022, the H24 took part in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in the innovative car category, racing at Imola, Le Mans and Portim&atilde;o&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;the first time the motorsport world has ever seen a hydrogen-powered car race at this level. Even more impressive, the programme&rsquo;s test drivers St&eacute;phane Richelmi and Norman Nato were able to take the prototype across the line in all three races. A promising beginning.&nbsp; During 24 Hours of Le Mans race week, the car hit a top speed of 290.8&nbsp;kph on the Mulsanne Straight&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;a major feat considering it only emits water vapour. Futuristic as it may seem, this project is not a fantasy; it is firmly anchored in reality.

With the Le Mans Virtual Series, MissionH24 is introducing its progress to young generations, who are particularly concerned by energy transition. Hydrogen-powered racing is gathering steam!

MissionH24 at the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans

Ten days after the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans week MissionH24 will be back in action on the track from Thursday to Sunday, this time in Great Britain, as H24 Racing’s two electric-hydrogen-powered racing prototypes have been invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Stéphane Richelmi will be at the wheel of the H24 for the hill climb and Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, will drive the LMPH2G in the demonstrations organised on the same layout.

Outside motor races, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the most prestigious of international motor sport events and it attracts some 150.000 spectators over the four days. Once a year in England in the heart of the Goodwood estate, the elite of world motor sport, all disciplines combined, meet up for four days to celebrate the men and machines which shine the rest of the year on circuits and special stages all over the planet. No world champion, no race team, no manufacturer whose DNA has been marked by motor sport would miss this rendezvous. 

As in 2021, the host, Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond, wanted MissionH24 to be honoured alongside the greats of motor sport. All the more so as this year he has placed his event under the sign of future mobility. Invited in 2021 to put on demonstrations with one of their electric-hydrogen prototypes, the LMPH2G, this year MissionH24 and the H24Racing team have been invited with two cars. Stéphane Richelmi will have the privilege of taking part in the hill climb with the H24 entered this season in the endurance events in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, while the LMPH2G will be driven by Pierre Fillon, the president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, organiser of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the demonstrations put on every day on the same layout!

Follow the Festival of Speed on <a href="https://www.goodwood.com/">www.goodwood.com</a>

MissionH24 invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed

ROLEX

TOTALENERGIES

MICHELIN

GOODYEAR

MOTUL

Our commitment is underpinned by three founding principles and meets 12 of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The first of the three areas covers the steps we are taking to combat the climate crisis. We adopted a sustainable development approach several decades ago, but we now have a clear mission: to contribute to a collective effort to reduce carbon emissions.

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR THE PLANET

From sustainable management to our contribution to local economies, we consider the impact of everything we do.

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR A RESPONSIBLE ECONOMY

The third aspect is the promotion of a fairer, more inclusive, responsible, and caring society.

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENT FOR ALL

Since the club was founded in 1906, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has always placed the values of solidarity and mutual aid at the heart of its development. In 2021, we formalised our commitments to sustainable development with a three-pronged approach. In line with the CSR strategy announced in June 2021, Stéphane Darracq, general manager of the ACO, presented the 24 Hours of Le Mans’ carbon footprint.

ENGAGEMANS - COMMITMENTS FOR THE FUTURE

24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 - The action of the "Restos du cœur"

ACO Sustainable Endurance Award presented by DHL

Enjoy a 10-minute ride with Marco Bonanomi on the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione hypercar on the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain while testing during the night.

10-minute onboard in Motorland Aragon night with Marco Bonanomi

The race highlights of the 2023 6 Hours of Fuji, round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Race Highlights I 2023 6 Hours of Fuji I FIA WEC

The qualifying highlights of the 2023 6 Hours of Fuji, round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

24H LE MANS

Sustainable development

THE THREE-PRONGED APPROACH
Sustainable development

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR THE PLANET

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR A RESPONSIBLE ECONOMY

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENT FOR ALL

Actions Taken

News
Sustainable development

24 Hours Centenary – Embracing hydrogen in the near future

MissionH24 at the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans

MissionH24 invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed

In video
Sustainable development

24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 - The action of the "Restos du cœur"

ACO Sustainable Endurance Award presented by DHL

The story

Our committed partners

THE THREE-PRONGED APPROACH Sustainable development

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR THE PLANET

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENTS FOR A RESPONSIBLE ECONOMY

ENGAGEMANS – COMMITMENT FOR ALL

Actions Taken

News Sustainable development

24 Hours Centenary – Embracing hydrogen in the near future

MissionH24 at the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans

MissionH24 invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed

In video Sustainable development

24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 - The action of the "Restos du cœur"

ACO Sustainable Endurance Award presented by DHL

The story

Our committed partners

THE THREE-PRONGED APPROACH
Sustainable development

News
Sustainable development

In video
Sustainable development