Hydrogen ICE HySE-X2 racing in Dakar 2025

HySE-X2 before the addition of race livery (Photo: Toyota)

If you’re interested in proving how tough your tech can be, there are few tests more difficult than the Dakar Rally.

Originally run over a course which took competitors from Paris, France to Dakar, the capital of Senegal in Africa, the route was intended to push both drivers and vehicles (ranging from motorcycles through to off-road trucks) to the limit as they navigated vast desert expanses at very high speed.

The threat of terrorism has seen the annual event moved to various locations around the world over recent years, all while retaining the famous name. This year, the Dakar Rally is being held in Saudi Arabia, a location which offers racing conditions as difficult as the original event.

Following on from its first entry in 2024, this year’s race will see the Hydrogen Small Mobility & Engine Technology Association (HySE) team return with its upgraded HySE-X2.

The off-road racer will be entered in the Mission 1000 category, launched in 2021 and intended to advance the use of alternative fuels in the rally.

The HySE-X2 features an offroad racing chassis designed by Overdrive Racing, based in Belgium, which has been modified to accommodate hydrogen fuel tanks and a related fuel supply system.

That system will send fuel to a modified four-cylinder DOHC 16-valve supercharged hydrogen internal combustion engine. The liquid-cooled engine has a displacement of just 998 cubic centimetres (0.998 litres).

Hydrogen will be carried at 700 bar (70 MPa) with a maximum capacity of 7.2 kg over four tanks; last year’s HySE-X1 had three tanks. Total vehicle weight is 1,250 kg.

According to Toyota Motor, one of the leading OEM sponsors, the chassis and engine of the HySE-X2 has progressed from those of last year’s HySE-X1 in order to ‘tackle new technical challenges like increasing output at the high revolution range, improving fuel consumption in the middle range and increasing capacity of the hydrogen tank’.

Daichi Kai, team manager of HySE Dakar 2025, said: “We would like to contribute to the establishment of technologies for the small hydrogen mobility engine, by verifying the effects of the countermeasures for technical issues found with HySE-X1 this year and by challenging more severe performance area of the engine.”

Other OEMs involved in the project include Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. Toyo has joined as tire supplier and will deliver versions using sustainable materials.

In 2024, the HySE-X1 finished fourth in the Mission 1000 category, primarily made up of teams running biofuels and biodiesel. With the motto of ‘Never Give Up’, it’s possible the team will be hoping to improve on that performance.

But no matter where the HySE-X2 finishes – or if it finishes at all, as the Dakar terrain regularly claims a percentage of vehicles – running the hydrogen ICE in the desert (while refuelling in very high ambient temperatures) will underline the versatility and toughness of the technology.

The 2025 Dakar Rally will be held from January 3-17 in Saudi Arabia.