It's only a 4-pot, but a bigger V-6 is coming.
May 10, 2024 in 4:53 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Some automakers insist that internal combustion engines are worth saving. Toyota believes this is possible by burning hydrogen instead of fossil fuels in ICEs. Porsche and Lamborghini believe synthetic fuels could be the savior of gas engines. Renault's performance brand Alpine is part of Team Hydrogen, and this Alpenglow Hy4 is its proof of concept.
Hy4 is an evolution of the static 2022 Alpenglow concept and a running prototype. It is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that produces 340 horsepower. The four-cylinder mill rotates up to 7,000 rpm and is fed by three hydrogen tanks. Each tank contains 4.6 pounds of hydrogen at a pressure of 700 bar. Power is sent to the road via a sequential transmission.
Alpine Alpenglow Hy4
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If the four-pot sounds overwhelming, Alpine is working on a larger engine. Introducing an all-new V-6 developed entirely in-house specifically for hydrogen applications. The Alpenglow successor, likely called Hy6, is expected to debut in late 2024. Meanwhile, Hy4 is about to hit the track.
It will be unveiled to the public tomorrow at the 6-hour endurance race at Spa-Francorchamps as part of the FIA WEC 2024 season. He will then head to France to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours scheduled for June 14-15.
The Hy4 is not a faithful recreation of the original Alpenglow concept, as Alpine has tweaked the body. The crash structure has been modified to accommodate a two-seater cabin, and the hydrogen tank is recessed into the sidepod. It's also a little taller than before, with a reworked aero package and accentuated by a new roof scoop.
Although the Hy4 is a track-only machine, Alpine believes the powertrain technology has implications for road-legal models as well. The French niche brand goes so far as to say that hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines are “a very promising solution for road use.”
The idea of modifying internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen is much older than Toyota's experiments with the GR Yaris and GR Corolla. BMW launched his V-12 7 Series in 2005 with his 6.0 liter unit running on hydrogen. Going back even further, the German luxury brand developed his 5 Series (E12) in the late 1970s to run on liquid hydrogen. The 520h featured in the BMW Group Classic video below.
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