Young talent STEM education Chemnitz

Hydrogen Grand Prix

At the Hydrogen Grand Prix, student teams design, build and race remote-controlled fuel-cell cars. The series exists to get young people excited about hydrogen technology and sustainable mobility — and Referenzfabrik.H₂ supports them from training through to the starting grid.

What is the H2GP? Our role Timeline

The Hydrogen Grand Prix on video Click to play · Music: Strike

17 teams at the 2026 German final — the largest field to date

60 teams at the 2025 world final in Chemnitz

4 race classes: Stock, Hybrid, Prototype and Modified

This is the Hydrogen Grand Prix

Student teams design, build and race remote-controlled fuel-cell cars — four steps to the podium.

Design

Teams design their vehicle and their race strategy.

Build

They build and refine it themselves — right up to the final training runs.

Race

In the race, what counts is who uses their hydrogen cartridges most efficiently.

Win

Awards go beyond lap times — design and team presentation count too.

What Referenzfabrik.H₂ contributes

For us the H2GP is not a sponsor logo at the trackside — it is hands-on work in the pit lane.

We run the training sessions

Ahead of the races we get the teams onto the track: procedures, technology and race strategies tested under realistic conditions — the fine-tuning that makes the difference in the final.

We answer technical and rules questions

During test runs our team helps solve technical problems and clarify the rules — so that on race weekend the cars take centre stage, not the rulebook.

We open up our Chemnitz site

At the 2025 world final in Chemnitz, guided tours of Fraunhofer IWU and TU Chemnitz were part of the programme — here it is only a few steps from a miniature race car to real hydrogen production technology.