Electric vehicles are all the rage at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with Ford’s EVs having dominated the event in recent years. Honda, on the other hand, will hit the mountain with a hydrogen car.

Dai Yoshihara will drive the Honda CR‑V e:FCEV, the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to compete at Pikes Peak. It will compete in the Exhibition class, incidentally where one of its rivals is the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N built by Yoshihara’s former team Evasive Motorsports.

As the name suggests, the Honda CR‑V e:FCEV is an electric version of the CR-V crossover SUV that utilizes an electric fuel cel. Like most manufacturers in the past decade, Honda has been shifting toward the EV market with models like the Prologue and hybrid-electric Accord and Civic. However, the Japanese company has been doing electric power at Pikes Peak since 1994 when Katy Endicott won the EV class in a Civic.

Yoshihara’s hillclimber was built in partnership between Honda of America Racing Team, Honda R&D Japan, and HRC USA. HART is usually tasked with debuting Honda’s new vehicles in American racing, such as the 2026 Passport TrailSport that ran the Mint 400 in March.

The e:FCEV is mostly stock, with the main exceptions being a lower suspension by one inch and standard racing safety additions like the roll cage; it also comes with 18-inch wheels and Yokohama 265/45R18 Advan A052 tires. Otherwise, the vehicle uses the same powertrain and fuel cell—a front-mounted single-motor 17.7 kWh battery pack along with two high-pressure hydrogen tanks—as the production model.

To refuel the car, Honda will use the FTcase from Zero Emission Industries. Developed in 2024, the FTcase is a 95-pound 21×16×11.7″ crate that converts hydrogen gas into fuel, intended to be easily movable and used by someone regardless of knowledge.

A two-time Formula DRIFT champion, Yoshihara won Pikes Peak in the Unlimited category in 2020. He has also raced for Honda in touring cars and IMSA.

The 2025 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is scheduled for June 22.

Featured image credit: Honda