Hyundai Motor Group’s continuous efforts to promote the use of hydrogen power has brought the brand into the realm of motorsports. The group announced on Friday (11-June-2021) that it will enter the inaugural Pure ETCR (Electric Touring Car Racing) with a motorsport team under the brand’s HTwo hydrogen division.

The Pure ETCR series is a new touring car series for electric cars. Hyundai Motorsports will be racing a hydrogen fuel cell electric-powered Hyundai Veloster N ETCR.

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The Veloster fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) packs 218 PS. This is double the power output that Hyundai’s production FCEV, the Hyundai Nexo, has to offer.

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The Hyundai Veloster N ETCR is slightly different from the hydrogen Toyota Corolla Sport. The Corolla Sport still uses an internal combustion engine (ICE) but the ICE is powered by hydrogen rather than fossil fuels.

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Hyundai will be taking the experience gained from the Pure ETCR series to develop high-performance electric vehicles. They also hope that their participation in motorsports will help promote their hydrogen brand HTwo to new markets.

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The Veloster N ETCR will be going up against rivals like an Alfa-Romeo Giulia from Italian team, Romeo Ferraris, and Spanish team CUPRA racing. At the moment only 3 teams have been confirmed to race at the season opener happening from 18-June to 20-June-2021.

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But Hyundai Motor Group won’t just be participating as a competitor in the series, the manufacturer will also be providing the refueling facility for the season.

In other words, Hyundai will be providing hydrogen fuel to all participating teams in all races scheduled for this year.

The Pure ETCR season opener will take place in Italy next week, the season will continue on with 3 more races in Europe before the penultimate race in South Korea.