The 2024 Dakar Rally, the prestigious annual event that was staged in Saudi Arabia this year on January 5-19, encourages alternative powertrain technology through its Mission 1000 initiative. This puts electric, hydrogen and hybrid cars and motorcycles through a 1000 km test, run concurrently with the main event, thereby allowing experimentation with such alternative options.
Ten vehicles took part in what was seen as a challenge rather than a competition, with various assessment criteria defined by the organiser, from reference time comparison through to ‘fan boost’ popularity.
Scoring the highest points in the 2024 Mission 1000 was the MAN truck of the KH7-Ecovergy Team, while the top two-wheeler was an electric motorcycle from Arctic Leopard, coming third in the points standings behind the buggy of Les Tigres du Desert.
KH7 is a Spanish team that won the 6x6 truck subcategory at Dakar every year from 2019 to 2022. In 2022, the team introduced a 6x6 that raced on a mix of hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) diesel substitute and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Switching then from LPG to hydrogen, the team co-developed its 2023 entry with Evarm, a specialist in the conversion of vehicles to alternative fuel.
The 11,500 kg MAN truck was fitted with a 420 litre hydrogen tank, refuelled by a mobile hydrogen generator. Its 12.4 litre I6 turbo engine produces around 800 bhp. In 2023, it ran on a 50/50 blend of HVO and hydrogen, this year increasing the hydrogen element to as much as 80% on some stages. The team claimed almost zero CO2 emissions.
Arctic Leopard Electric Technology is China’s first high-performance electric off-road motorcycle manufacturer. It entered three of its factory-prepared E.XE-880 motorcycles in the 2024 Mission 1000 and they finished third, fifth and sixth in the points standings (split by the HySE buggy described in an earlier Race Engine Log).
The E.XE-880 has as stock a 37 kW peak-power Jiuzhou electric motor that can deliver 800 Nm torque via chain to the rear wheel, supported by a 105V 58Ah battery.
