Honda is bullish on hydrogen, and the company has decided to take that alt-fuel enthusiasm racing. The new hydrogen-powered CR-V e:FCEV will be taking part in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb later this month, and it’ll be doing so in near-stock trim — the same 174 horses of the stock car will pull the newly-caged SUV up the Race to the Clouds. No one’s yet expecting it to beat Volkswagen’s record on the course, but hey. Maybe we’ll be surprised.
Honda has long been a big name at Pikes Peak, supplying not only a race team but pace cars and sponsorships in droves. It has fielded fully electric prototypes and race cars in the past, going all the way back to the first EV class in 1994, but the CR-V will be the first hydrogen vehicle from any company to race up the mountain. Honda will be running this CR-V e:FCEV in the Exhibition class — not exactly competing for the all-out best time of the day, but with repeat Pikes Peak driver and Formula Drift champion Daijiro Yoshihara behind the wheel, we may see a time faster than expected for a sub-200-horsepower, family hauling, grocery getting crossover.
An unexpected choice for the hill climb
The CR-V e:FCEV (pronounced See Are Vee Eef-Sev, presumably) is a weird and unexpected choice for Pikes Peak. It’s not some high-aero monster, it’s a family car that Honda will have to lug military equipment out to Colorado just to fuel — and yet, that’s why it’s so fun. Honda’s car is minimally prepped, with lowered suspension, lighter 18-inch wheels, upgraded brake pads, and sporty Yokohama tires being the only mods in addition to the aforementioned rollcage, which puts it far from the optimized aero of ideal hillclimb cars like Super Mustang Mach E. Pikes Peak is full of cars that may not seem “ideal” or “optimized” for the route, though, but are just there because people wanted to take a crack at the race. When I went to Pikes Peak in 2022 I saw pickups, SUVs, and old sedans make the Race to the Clouds, and I was far more excited to see the weird stuff than the 35th Porsche Cayman.
So bring on the hydrogen crossover, Honda. Bring on a PHEV putting out a mere 174 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque from a single electric motor. Bring on the vehicles that don’t make sense here, and I’ll be happy to see each one make the climb. Will they break records? No. But it’s fun to see something so unprepared make such a scenic and historic race, and I’d much rather have fun than see a new, slightly smaller number.
Honda
Honda
