24 Hours of Le Mans: Bosch introduces pioneering H2 concept for the future of motorsport

Abstatt – The world of motorsport is changing: environmental awareness is growing among active motorsport athletes and fans the world over, while emissions and climate protection are becoming increasingly important in vehicle engineering. Bosch Motorsport is actively driving this transformation with concepts that enable the use of hydrogen in motorsport. "Our pioneering solutions help to make motorsport powertrains more climate-friendly and further reduce the carbon footprint of racing events," states Ingo Mauel, vice president of Bosch Motorsport. Bosch Motorsport's hydrogen portfolio encompasses developments for high-performance hydrogen engines as well as systems for storing the fuel safely and efficiently in vehicles.

Innovative storage and safety concept

The use of liquid hydrogen is currently favored as a storage concept in the motorsport segment. To liquefy the hydrogen, it is cooled to approximately -253°C and filled into the insulated, low-temperature vehicle tanks with a pressure of up to around 5 bar. In this form, the hydrogen has a higher volumetric density than with alternative gaseous storage, meaning that the tanks take up significantly less space in the race car. Hydrogen storage places high demands on the fuel management as well as the safety concept. To facilitate the integration of hydrogen drives into race cars, Bosch Motorsport has engineered the L-HSCU liquid hydrogen storage control unit along with a corresponding safety concept. It can be used to control and monitor the entire storage chain in the vehicle, from refueling and storage in the tanks to the transfer to the fuel cell or the internal-combustion engine. Sensors supply the control unit with data on parameters such as the pressure and temperature in the tank and fuel lines. Any anomalies in the hydrogen system trigger the automatic activation of protective circuits – for example, fans ensure effective dilution of the gas concentration in the event of a hydrogen leak. The control unit also communicates with the refueling system both within and outside the vehicle to ensure a safe and efficient refueling process.

The first use of the L-HSCU liquid hydrogen storage control unit is in the fuel-cell-powered H24EVO demo vehicle created as part of the MissionH24’s program. "Endurance motorsport offers a perfect testing ground for new technologies since the components employed must be extremely robust and durable. As an official partner with H24Project in Mission24H’s program, we can contribute both our extensive motorsport experience and our vast hydrogen expertise to the development of the H24EVO and thereby demonstrate that hydrogen is a viable alternative for the world motorsport," explains Mauel.

The hydrogen technology installed in Bosch Engineering's Ligier JS2 RH2 test vehicle will be further developed to meet the specific requirements of high-performance sports cars for the road. Pressurized hydrogen storage will successfully establish itself in this area, and BEG is already working on suitable concepts for the future. In addition to the tried-and-tested safety concept, an emissions concept for road applications is also in development.

The demonstrator will be on show again in the H2 Village and will participate in the exclusive demo laps for hydrogen-powered race cars, which are scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 12, and Saturday, June 14, 2025.