Zero Emission Industries’ Portable FTcase Fuels Honda Racing’s First-Ever Hydrogen-Powered CR-V e:FCEV at Pikes Peak Hill Climb
- Honda Racing Corporation, Zero Emissions Industries to make historic run as first hydrogen fuel cell-powered car to compete at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
- ZEI’s FTcase provides only viable solution for off-grid refueling capabilities in austere, remote environments
- Unique technical approach in FTcase removes a significant barrier to broader commercial and military adoption
- Hydrogen’s unique benefits spurring commercial and military interest, including operational power (hydrogen electrical generators, fuel) and air, land and sea propulsion, which require quiet, low thermal profiles to elude detection with longer-range, high payload capabilities
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 18, 2025 — Zero Emission Industries (ZEI) will provide racing partner Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) with its FTcase, a portable hydrogen refueling device no larger than carry-on luggage, to enable HRC’s run at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. This is the first time a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the CR-V e:FCEV, will compete in the event just outside Colorado Springs.
HRC US’s participation in the race will also be the first time a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle refuels from a portable device at any race worldwide. Until now, hydrogen refueling has required building a permanent installation using significant resources or a supply truck with installed equipment needing special training. ZEI was recently given Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas award in 2025 for the FTcase product and its other groundbreaking work.
"Racing Pikes Peak wouldn't be possible without Zero Emission Industries and their FTcase,” said James Nazarian, Large Project Leader Commercial Motorsports, Honda Racing Corporation USA.
“Our FTcase enables customers like Honda to access hydrogen fuel anywhere in the world easily. Honda’s innovation in efficient, low-emission vehicles goes back at least 50 years. We love supporting their entry into Pikes Peak, where together we’re aggressively advancing the boundaries of hydrogen fuel cell performance,” said Dr. Joe Pratt, CEO of ZEI. Before starting ZEI, Pratt was Founder and Manager of Sandia National Lab’s Zero Emission Maritime Program and was the Sandia Manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology (H2FIRST) program.
"ZEI has spent years making hydrogen fueling as simple and flexible as fueling gas vehicles. The FTcase provides rapidly-deployable fueling for a growing hydrogen fuel cell market, which is seeing attention in both commercial and military applications for their low emissions, undetectable operation and superior range over battery-only alternatives,” said Pratt.
Solving Hydrogen Challenges
With a founding focus on maritime applications, ZEI originally developed the FTcase to solve a refueling availability gap for water-bound vessels that can’t access permanent hydrogen fuel stations. Since then, the FTcase has solved that same challenge for heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell trucks crossing the desert, transit buses at remote depots and ZEI’s hydrogen fuel cell speedboat, the FCV Vanguard, along waterfronts across California.
Leading up to the race, HRC US found there were no public hydrogen stations in Colorado and no companies with a mobile fueling solution that could make it to Pikes Peak, with the exception of ZEI’s FTcase. While three permanent stations are being built in Colorado, the nearest to Pikes Peak will be in Pueblo, more than 50 miles away, making it impractical for even future races.
From Racing to Military Duty: Surge in U.S. Defense, Special Forces Interest
The off-grid race environment is a testing ground for the even harsher, more remote conditions on battlefields worldwide, such as in the Indo-Pacific theater.
While the civilian hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market is growing, ZEI’s product line, including its own hydrogen fuel cell power system, also solves many problems presented in sensor-ridden, austere war zones of interest to the U.S. Department of Defense.
For example, the U.S. Special Forces Operations (SOF) Command has identified “Reduced Signature” capabilities as a priority, defined as “low observability technologies to reduce or confuse detection of... manned and unmanned mobility platforms across the full spectrum (visual, acoustic, thermal).” Hydrogen fuel cell power systems offer quiet, low thermal profiles that meet these new requirements.
Also, the U.S. Army is actively seeking auxiliary power units for its ground vehicles, modular command equipment and power generation that provide power and propulsion with low thermal signatures to evade enemy detection; ZEI addresses all of these markets. The U.S. Air Force has already deployed a new 600-kilowatt fuel cell microgrid installation at Hawaii’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Equipment powered by hydrogen fuel cells will depend on technology like the FTcase to ensure dependable and safe hydrogen logistics operations.
"The U.S. military needs vehicles, power and fueling systems that minimize detection signatures in the sensor-heavy environments of modern conflict. Hydrogen cuts thermal and acoustic trails while enabling reliable power generation at the edge — solving the signature and logistics problems in one move," said ZEI Solutions Architect and former U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman Zachary Hooker.
About Zero Emission Industries:
ZEI is a South San Francisco-based technology company that engineers and manufactures a range of quiet and efficient power and propulsion solutions that combine hydrogen (H2) fuel cell and battery technologies. Founded initially to solve maritime and heavy-duty propulsion, ZEI provides a range of hybrid tech, including generators, storage, and fueling. ZEI now focuses on rapidly growing military energy markets, which require high energy density and tactically advantageous low thermal, acoustic, and emission signatures.
Media Contact:
Christopher Terry
