Peter Lyon
June 16, 2025
Honda is set to make history in the U.S. The Japanese carmaker today announced that its CR‑V e:FCEV will be the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to compete at the iconic “Race to the Clouds” – The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo.
Prepped for competition by engineers at Honda of America Race Team (HART), Honda R&D Japan, and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US), the CR‑V e:FCEV will take on the challenging 156-turn, 12.42-mile mountain course on June 22, driven by Pikes Peak class-winner, two-time Formula Drift champion, and HRC US driver Dai Yoshihara.
The production 2025 CR‑V e:FCEV will compete in the “exhibition class” without modifications to its zero-emissions powertrain, which includes the second-generation Honda fuel cell system produced at Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC (FCSM) in Michigan, a front-mounted single-motor, 17.7 kWh battery pack, and two high-pressure hydrogen tanks.
The CR‑V e:FCEV is hand-built at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, and is the only fuel cell electric passenger vehicle made in America, and the first to pair hydrogen fuel cell with plug-in hybrid technology. For competition, the only modifications from stock are a 1-inch lowered suspension, racing brake pads, light weight 18-inch wheels and 265/45R18 Yokohama Advan A052 tires. HART also equipped the CR‑V e:FCEV with a racing seat and safety cage.
Known as the Race to the Clouds due to the 14,115-foot summit in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the Pikes Peak event is one of America’s longest running motorsports competitions. Since 1916, drivers from all over the world race against the clock in a wide variety of vehicles and from multiple motorsports disciplines as they take on the grueling mountain course, which begins at 9,390 feet.
In 2015, a four-motor EV concept based on the Honda CR‑Z placed first in the Exhibition Class with an impressive 10:23.8 time. Honda further improved the four-motor EV technology for 2016 where the NSX-bodied concept shattered the previous model’s time and nearly broke the 9-minute barrier (9:06.1).
The CR-V’s driver Dai Yoshihara has competed at Pikes Peak five times, including an Unlimited Class win in 2020 and a second-place finish in the Exhibition Class in 2022.
2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV
Boasting a 270-mile EPA driving range, the CR‑V e:FCEV combines the U.S.-made fuel cell system with plug-in charging capability designed to provide up to 29 miles of EV driving around town with the flexibility of fast hydrogen refueling.
Currently available for customer leasing in California, the CR‑V e:FCEV is the first application of the second-generation Honda fuel cell system, generates 174 horsepower and 229 lb.-ft. of torque, and compared to CR‑V turbo and hybrid models, rear lateral rigidity is up 10%, and rear torsional rigidity has improved 9%.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
Honda has been conducting research and development of hydrogen technologies and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) for more than 30 years. I remember test driving an FCX prototype way back in 2002, and thinking the technology was advanced and easy to drive, but had little application to modern-day motoring as the hydrogen infrastructure was almost non-existent. To be bluntly honest, some 23 years later, things have not really moved on. Yes, the Honda FCX was launched in December 2002, and became the world’s first FCEV to receive certification for everyday use from both the U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and yes, it was leased for a short time to government agencies and even some private motorists, but the experiment fizzled out until recently with this CR-V e:FCEV model.
