Lighthouse project for the decarbonization of winter tourism: For the development of the emission-free hydrogen-based snowmobile Lynx HySnow, the Gunskirchen-based company BRP-Rotax together with project partners received the prestigious EL-MO mobility award. The award was presented by Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler and Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Karlheinz Kopf in Vienna on Monday as part of the Electromobility Congress.

Gunskirchen, April 5, 2022 - Almost noiseless, charged in three minutes and, above all, no pollutant emissions - these are the advantages with which the Lynx HySnow, the concept snowmobile with hydrogen fuel cell from BRP-Rotax, scores. In February 2020, the Upper Austrian company presented the innovation to the public after four and a half years of research. As one of five winning projects, HySnow has now been awarded the EL-MO prize in Vienna as part of the 12th EL-MOTION 2022 electromobility congress. The award honors the most innovative Austrian projects in the field of e-mobility and CO2 reduction.

"Winning the prestigious EL-MO Award is a great pleasure and special recognition for the entire project team. This award confirms our ambitious path of the last years and provides a wonderful stage for our sustainable and future-oriented drive solutions", says Wolfgang Rapberger, GM BRP-Rotax / Representative of the Management Board.

Holistic hydrogen ecosystem in Hinterstoder

The HySnow project was funded by the Climate and Energy Fund and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency mbH (FFG) as part of its "Lighthouses of E-Mobility" program and implemented in cooperation with HyCentA Research GmbH, Fronius Austria, Graz University of Technology, the Hinterstoder and Wurzeralm ski region, as well as ElringKlinger AG and ECuSol GmbH.

The Lynx HySnow has been in real operation at the Hinterstoder ski resort since 2021. In the process, the BRP-Rotax snowmobile is embedded in a true hydrogen ecosystem: The central core of the project is the hydrogen production and refueling system, which was developed in cooperation with Fronius. It produces green hydrogen for the vehicle right next to the runway.

Foundation stone for future series production

"We have invested over four and a half intensive years in the research and development of this showcase project. A technical masterpiece, the Lynx HySnow is an important milestone in our sustainable propulsion systems and vividly illustrates the crucial role hydrogen can play in the decarbonization of winter tourism," enthuses Nigel Foxhall. BSc (Hons), initiator of the HySnow project at BRP-Rotax, who accepted the award on behalf of all partners.

In order to help the sustainable energy carrier hydrogen achieve a breakthrough, the next step will be to work on industrialization options. In the future, these could enable cost-effective, series production of fuel cell-based vehicles and hydrogen storage media. Further research projects are to support this project.