At a time when the global automotive industry is fast adopting electrification, the growing demand for pickup trucks almost guarantees the success of an electrified high-riding product. Electric vehicles are also responsible for rendering hydrogen cars obsolete, however, there are still some automakers who continue to bet on fuel-cell propulsion systems.

Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG), the New York based boutique automaker most widely known for its Le Mans Hypercar, has announced that it plans on going back to Baja. This time it will be entering  the grueling Baja 1000 endurance race with a hydrogen fuel-powered off-roader. You might recall that Glickenhaus challenged Elon Musk and his Tesla Cybertruck to race against their own SCG Baja Boot back in late 2020. 

The car brand has partnered up with First Mode, which is a technology and engineering company known for developing a hydrogen fuel-cell system that powers one of the largest zero-emissions mining vehicles in the world, and weighs as much as 1 million pounds.

Off-road racing makes an ideal proving ground for OEM auto makers.

SCG has elaborate plans for its fuel-cell-powered pickup truck and intends to develop the vehicle to be used as part of its fleet. Even though SCG does not have any concrete plans for the vehicle’s fuel-cell-enabled powertrain right now, it plans on competing in Baja 1000 as early as next year. The Managing Director of SCG Jesse Glickenhaus believes that Baja 1000 would be a good testing ground for its FCEV.

And he would know this intimately as they have developed a modern version of the Baja Boot and raced to a SCORE-International Baja 1000 win twice. SCG is not the first company to use Baja 1000 as a testing stage for researching and developing new models. Ford also used the annual Mexican race to test 2021 Bronco prototypes. The company has confirmed that its upcoming zero-emissions racing truck will be nearly identical to his desert racing Boot, which is based on SCG’s road-legal racing truck.

The company will also be focusing on devising an efficient pit stop strategy that will help it determine the amount of energy that needs to be stored onboard. We reckon that with motorsport, SCG has found the perfect application for hydrogen-powered vehicles, and we look forward to watching this green off-roader take on the legendary race.