Cover Jagjeet Singh and Jefry Talib of Pinnacle Kart help develop hydrogen technology locally
Jagjeet Singh and Jefry Talib of Pinnacle Kart help develop hydrogen technology locally
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Working together with numerous government agencies and individuals, Jagjeet Singh helps develop hydrogen technology locally
Just as we are seeing automakers move towards electrification, there are now hydrogen-powered cars—like the Toyota Mirai or Hyundai Nexo. What most might not know is that hydrogen fuel cell technology was developed first, but took a back seat due to storage issues and cost. However, technology has caught up, and Malaysia too has a foot into the production of the technology.
The Man
Jagjeet Singh was immersed in the world of motorsports from an early age, mostly thanks to being the son of Pardaman Singh—a local race car driver. “From a young age, our dad taught my sibling and me to work on motor cars, and by the age of 12, I could already do minor work like changing tyres, tuning carburettors, as well as figuring out the electronic parts in cars. Then, from age 13, I was a part of his pit crew team,” shares Jagjeet, who later entered the world of rally motorsports.
But what led Jagjeet down the path of sustainable fuels was former premier Tun Mahathir’s “Vision 2020,” which sought to bring modernity to Malaysia. “I remember playing with battery-operated remote control cars back then, thinking how fast they could go, and wanted to scale up the model to life-size proportions,” says Jagjeet, who was in his 20s when Vision 2020 was first introduced.
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However, access to such technology and knowledge was limited locally at the time. “This was before the internet as we know it existed, so I read up a lot about alternative fuels. And whenever I met someone from other parts of the world working in the renewable energy sphere, I would get as much info as I could from them,” shares Jagjeet.
He then took the proactive step to promote biofuel in the realm of motorsports, but it wasn’t gaining much traction at first. His big break came in 2018 when he met representatives from Nano Malaysia, an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. “They spoke to me about a hydrogen EV project they were keen to work on and recognised my prior experience of working with biofuels. So I jumped on board, and they provided the expertise and funding to create a showcase vehicle, which is now the HyPER car you see here,” explains Jagjeet.
Above The Hydrogen Paired Electric Race (HyPER) car on the tracks
The Hydrogen Paired Electric Race (HyPER) car on the tracks
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The Machine
The HyPER car didn’t start its life as a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle but rather evolved into one. “The design is based on the Lotus 7, and I believe that it is more attractive to showcase alternative fuel technology in the form of a race car rather than a conventional car—it’s just more appealing,” Jagjeet shares.
After acquiring the vehicle in 2014, Jagjeet initially wanted to convert the petrol race car to run on biofuel, but it shortly became an E-sports racing simulator as well. “By coincidence, the car went from E-sports to EV sports,” Jagjeet reveals.
When it comes to performance, the HyPER car is capable of a top speed of 120km/h and can complete the century sprint in around five seconds. Being a motorsport vehicle, its range on battery alone is 50km, but that doubles when paired with the hydrogen system.
“This car features a low-power kit because it’s more for R&D purposes, and it’s not professional race car drivers taking this to the tracks most of the time. It will be researchers and such, thus we haven’t powered it to its full extent,” Jagjeet explains. “The hydrogen basically acts as a range extender, so you can charge the car with a normal plug or through the hydrogen fuel cell, which is a dual-fuelling system—either replacing the reactors or via a tank that can be filled at fuelling stations,” he continues.
The Future
In 2023, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim launched the Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap to push the hydrogen agenda locally, which is already picking up overseas. “Usually, we’re slightly late to the party, but this time we already have our foot in—since we know the world is moving in that direction, we quickly follow suit.
“And while the technology is first seen powering the HyPER car, its application can impact not just the automobile industry. Although tested on a race car, we can essentially use the hydrogen fuel cells to power up offshore rigs, buildings, and such,” ends Jagjeet on a promising note.
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