Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine, or HySE for short, will return to the Dakar Rally’s Mission 1000 in 2025 with an upgraded hydrogen-powered SSV dubbed the HySE-X2. Dakar bike veteran Yoshio Ikemachi will drive the car with Paulo Marques as navigator.

HySE is a joint project between Denso Corporation, Honda, Kawasaki Motors and Heavy Industries, Suzuki, Toyota, and Yamaha to develop hydrogen engines for “small mobility” vehicles like motorcycles and drones. It was founded in May 2023 by Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha with the blessing of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The project’s first car, the HySE-X1, entered the inaugural Mission 1000 earlier this year. Piloted by Jamie Campbell and Bruno Jacomy, it finished fourth overall and second among SSVs behind a hydrogen-powered Can-Am Maverick from Les Tigres du Désert.

The HySE-X2 is 4 meters long by 2 meters wide and 1.9 m high, making it longer (3.53 m), narrower (2.07 m), and taller (1.7 m) than its predecessor. It is also lighter by 250 kilograms at 1,250 kg despite having four hydrogen tanks installed compared to the X1’s three. The 7.2-kg hydrogen tank carries 70 megapascals of internal pressure, and a fourth was added due to a new chassis.

On the other hand, both cars use the same engine: liquid-cooled, four-stroke, inline four-cylinder and supercharged in a dual overhead camshaft layout with sixteen valves.

“We have decided to participate in the Dakar Rally with HySE-X2 which has the engine and the chassis that are progressed from those of HySE-X1,” said team manager Daichi Kai. “We would like to contribute to the establishment of technologies for the small hydrogen mobility engine, by verifying the effects of the countermeasures for technical issues found with HySE-X1 this year and by challenging more severe performance area of the engine. The details of our activities will be shown through Instagram and we would appreciate your support.”

Ikemachi finished 44th in Rally2 at the 2024 Dakar, his first time running the race on a bike since 2000 and his first in general since 2010. He was a rally raid factory driver for Nissan for much of the 2000s before returning to his two-wheeled roots at the Asia Cross-Country Rally. His finish of tenth at the 2000 Dakar Rally remains the highest by a Japanese bike rider.

Featured image credit: Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology Association