KU Leuven’s HydroTeam has reached an important milestone on its road to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its hydrogen-powered prototype has moved under its own power for the first time, completing laps inside Eastech Park in Leuven. That appears to make it Belgium’s first functioning race car powered by a hydrogen combustion engine.
The car combines a Radical racing chassis with a converted 3.5-liter Ford EcoBoost V6. A year ago, HydroTeam had already managed to run the engine on hydrogen, but only with an external fuel supply.
The latest version integrates the complete system on board, including hydrogen storage, pressure regulation, electronics, cooling, and the drivetrain.
Hydrogen is stored at 700 bar and reduced to around 5 bar before reaching the engine. Before installation, the system was first tested with nitrogen and subsequently pressure-tested up to 875 bar in a specialized bunker at steel research center OCAS. Inspection company Vinçotte then approved the installation.
That makes the achievement considerably more meaningful than simply getting an engine to fire. Eight full-time students, supported by dozens of part-time team members, have effectively turned an existing racing car into a mobile hydrogen laboratory. HydroTeam also wants the project to become a broader research platform at KU Leuven.
Not quite a world first
There is, however, an asterisk to one of the claims surrounding the project. Reports described HydroTeam as the first student team in the world to get a hydrogen-combustion race car driving. That appears too broad.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology’s KA-RaceIng team already ran its KIT25h hydrogen-combustion Formula Student car in 2025. It won the combustion category at Formula Future, and subsequently drove at Formula Student Austria, where the team participated in the dynamic disciplines with the hydrogen car.
The Leuven project still appears to deserve the Belgian-first label, and its scale and ambition are unusual. HydroTeam is not aiming merely at Formula Student competition. It wants to develop a GT-style successor, set official lap times at Spa-Francorchamps, enter a first race in August 2027, and ultimately compete at Le Mans in 2030.
Toyota and Alpine are several laps ahead
That last objective puts the student project up against much more mature hydrogen programs. Bosch and Ligier’s JS2 RH2 already produces 443 kW, or around 602 hp, and 650 Nm from its 3.0-liter twin-turbo hydrogen engine. It has repeatedly exceeded 280 km/h and completed more than 5,000 kilometers of hard circuit testing.
Alpine has gone further still. Its Alpenglow Hy6 uses a purpose-built 3.5-liter twin-turbo hydrogen V6 producing 544 kW (740 hp) and 770 Nm. With hydrogen stored at 700 bar, it can exceed 330 km/h.
And Toyota is already working on the next step. At Le Mans in June, its TR LH2 Racing Prototype became the first liquid-hydrogen combustion prototype to run publicly on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Le Mans changes the rules of the game
That is where HydroTeam’s biggest technical challenge may eventually lie. The FIA has selected liquid hydrogen for the future Le Mans hydrogen prototypes, while allowing both fuel-cell and hydrogen-combustion powertrains.
Liquid hydrogen offers higher volumetric energy density than compressed gaseous hydrogen, but requires cryogenic tanks at -253°C and an entirely different storage and refueling architecture.
The timing has also shifted in HydroTeam’s favor. A dedicated hydrogen category was initially targeted for 2028, but the FIA and WEC now say hydrogen will be introduced in 2030, precisely the year the Leuven students hope to enter. So the current Radical-based prototype should not be viewed as the car that will eventually race at Le Mans. It is the first step in a succession of learning vehicles.
A new generation of thirteen students has now taken over, with demonstration laps planned on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans on 9 September and development of a new GT-style hydrogen racer due to start later this year.
