Honda has signed up the multi-faceted Japanese race car driver Dai Yoshihara to pilot a competition-prepped CR-V at the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competition. It’s not just a regular Honda CR-V though; the automaker is putting a CR-V e:FCEV into the Exhibition Class. This is the same no-rules category where we’ve previously seen vehicles like the insane Radford 62-2. While the CR-V e:FCEV is being prepared by Honda of America Race Team, Honda R&D Japan, and Honda Racing Corporation USA, it will be without modifications to its zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.
Pioneering Technology At The Race To The Clouds
This isn’t Honda’s first time at Pikes Peak to push its brewing mass-market technology to the edge. In 1994, Katy Endicott drove an EV-converted Honda Civic wagon to win the first EV class event, and followed that a few years later with a race-prepared EV Plus, then again an all-electric Honda Fit. Following that, Honda sent a four-motor EV concept based on the Honda CR-Z up the mountain and then an improved version with an NSX body. The NSX-bodied version came close to under a nine-minute run, clocking in at 9:06.1.
Running a hydrogen powered car will bring a new set of challenges, and the biggest challenge should be solved with a portable hydrogen refueling station provided by Zero Emission Industries (ZEI). The station is “barely larger than carry-on luggage, can transform any gaseous hydrogen supply into a complete hydrogen fueling station, allowing a single operator without hydrogen expertise to fuel safely and efficiently.”
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Prepping The Car
Last year, we drove the Honda CR-V e:FCEV in California and found the hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain with plug-in capability (an industry first) to be perfectly suited for city and freeway commuting. The e:FCEV will also be well-suited to the hillclimb, as it won’t run out of steam halfway up the hill as altitude thins out the air. But the chassis needs some work for the occasion. To get some sort of competitive edge, the CR-V e:FCEV will run a 1-inch lowered suspension, use racing brake pads, and lightweight 18-inch wheels wrapped in Yokohama Advan tires. It’s also, as you would expect, equipped with a racing seat and custom-fabricated safety cage.
If the name Dai Yoshihara sounds familiar, it could be from a few different areas of racing, as he’s had a long and diverse career that officially started with Formula Drift. Most recently, he’s been racing a Civic Type R TCR in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge class since 2024, but has raced at Pikes Peak five times, most notably claiming an EV Class win and an Unlimited Class win.
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The Reality Of Racing
The CR-V e:FCEV’s powertrain delivers 174 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque and has an EPA-estimated 270 miles of range. Pike’s Peak is a 156-turn, 12.42-mile mountain course in Colorado. The event is also known as The Race to the Clouds, as it starts at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,115-foot summit.
The problem internal combustion engines have is a loss of horsepower and the potential for overheating issues as the air gets thinner on the climb. Electric cars, and hydrogen by extension, are more consistent as they’re not pulling in air to create combustion. With so little power available, though, Yoshihara is still going to face an uphill battle. He does love a challenge, though.
