Alpine unveils its Alpenglow Hy4 hydrogen prototype at the 6 Hours of Spa

In 2022, at the Paris Auto Show, Alpine presented a concept car named Alpenglow. Two years later, the French manufacturer developed its concept to make it a model running on hydrogen, for the moment with three gas tanks, but in the future with liquid storage which could be better integrated and improve the speed of refueling. .

The Alpenglow Hy4 is equipped with a 340 hp 2.0 turbo four-cylinder engine powered by hydrogen, built on the basis of an LMP3 chassis supplied by Ligier. But the French manufacturer clarified that it was a “step of work before the presentation of a brand new V6 engine specifically designed to be powered by hydrogen, entirely developed by Alpine”. It should reach a maximum speed of 270 km/h. It will run on Saturday at Spa as a prologue to the WEC race and will also be presented at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 15 and 16.

A hydrogen category planned for Le Mans in 2027

“In our approach to active participation in the decarbonization of motorsport, we consider that the hydrogen internal combustion engine solution is very promising,” declared Bruno Famin, director of Alpine Motorsports. We know that hydrogen will be an essential step in the decarbonization of the next generations of endurance cars, and could also be so for Formula 1. The Alpenglow prototype is the perfect illustration of this, a true technological laboratory for the development of engines. hydrogen of tomorrow. »

There are still plans for a hydrogen category to join the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2027, and this Alpenglow HY4 would be one of them.