Brazilian engineers achieve historic feat in the US with hydrogen vehicle

The journey of the Cataratas Energy Efficiency Group at the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas 2026, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, solidifies itself as a milestone of technical achievement and international projection of Brazilian engineering. In one of the most rigorous global platforms for innovation in sustainable mobility, the team achieved a historic result by obtaining full approval in the technical inspection—a critical stage that validates the safety, reliability, and performance of the prototypes in competition.

Hydrogen, resilience, and innovation position the Brazilian team among the most advanced.

The achievement of the maximum score (10/10) in the technical inspection reflects a combination of operational maturity and engineering capacity under pressure. According to Professor Fernando José Gaiotto, the challenges were overcome through fine-tuning of auxiliary systems and calibration of hydrogen sensors—especially given differences in the purity of the fuel used in international tests.

The prototype, powered by a fuel cell, highlights the potential of hydrogen as a clean, safe, and versatile energy vector, capable of integrating different production and storage routes. According to Gaiotto, this technology is likely to play a central role in the global energy transition, especially due to its ability to store energy and meet peak demand. The impact of participation goes beyond the track: by competing on equal technical footing with international teams, the group demonstrates the competitiveness of national engineering, even though mechanical challenges persist in the testing environment.

The initiative also has the support of private agents, such as businessman Carlos Peixoto, who emphasizes the strategic role of investment in applied research as a way to retain talent and stimulate the creation of new technological markets in the country. With approval secured, GCEE now moves on to efficiency tests, pushing not only the vehicle's performance to the limit, but also its own ambition to position Brazil as a protagonist in sustainable mobility engineering.

Check out the full interviews HERE:

Interview with Professor Fernando Gaiotto:

The 10/10 approval in the Shell technical inspection is a significant milestone — especially being one of the only vehicles in its category to achieve this result. What were the main engineering challenges faced by the team during this process, and what technical solutions were crucial to achieving this level of excellence?

Regarding the technical experience under international pressure, and over time, the team acquired a certain maturity and experience in solving problems under adverse and competitive conditions. So, these technical solutions came from the group thinking about and solving problems they themselves had already faced. We did very well. Small adjustments were made to the electrical system, the auxiliary electrical system, such as the windshield wipers, turn signals, and hazard lights. There was also a calibration of the hydrogen sensor, which is a safety item, and it detects hydrogen leaks if they occur. So, that was it. The hydrogen they use here for this type of test is less pure, and consequently, our detector in Brazil was calibrated with very pure hydrogen from Itaipu Parktech, so it was necessary to make this adjustment.

The GCEE prototype relies on hydrogen as an energy source. How do you assess the role of this technology in the future of urban mobility, and what are the differentiating factors of the Brazilian project compared to other international teams?

Hydrogen as a vector of innovation has proven to be very solid, and it will certainly contribute to a transition in this energy matrix, respecting safety aspects, such as how to use it, how to transport it, and testing it. In our case, using it in fuel cells to generate electricity for the motors is 100% safe, 100% clean, and very economically viable, in the sense that you don't need to produce and transport it long distances. You can produce it in a location where the route for hydrogen production comes through biomass. In other places, solar and wind energy are used for electrolysis and hydrogen production. And other potential ways of better storing this energy would also be possible. So, during times when you're not using electricity, you could store that electricity, generating hydrogen and consequently using it during times of higher electricity demand. So I think the use of hydrogen goes hand in hand with its storage and transport. And today there's already talk of storing hydrogen in a solid state, using specific cylinders, and all of this is progressing in parallel. This is creating a solid foundation so that this energy matrix can be both robust and sustainable.

What is the significance of this achievement for Brazilian engineering, and what message do you have for the new generation of engineers?

The strategic impact and international projection are very important for students and professors. By putting these prototype vehicles on the track and competing on equal footing with other teams, we noticed that our technology is inferior to that of other teams; our fuel cell, our technology, our electronics are on par with other teams, and I think the challenges for engineers lie more in the mechanical aspects when competing on the track. But a very important message I would like to leave for this new generation is to learn about this energy source, to understand its potential, its forms of generation, and that it is a very promising source for the very near future, where they will be better prepared to participate in national and international competitions such as the Shell Eco-Marathon competition in its multiple stages, which, starting this year, will have a scoring system and a global championship where the top teams accumulate points, all teams accumulate points, but the top teams will be selected for a stage in Qatar in 2027. So this only motivates engineers even more, motivates these students, future engineers, to work with this very interesting technology.

Interview with sponsor Carlos Peixoto:

What is your motivation for sponsoring a team of Brazilian engineering students? What is the importance of the participation of small and medium-sized businesses in financing and supporting initiatives at Brazilian universities?

In the case of H2helium, the interest in collaborating on research and development projects for applications of new technologies, such as hydrogen-powered urban mobility, goes beyond projecting an image as a company associated with innovation, youth, and encouraging new generations of Brazilians.

We believe that supporting initiatives like the Cataratas Energy Efficiency Group of UNIOESTE and UNILA is a way to go beyond fulfilling our legal and social obligations. We aim to generate a positive impact on society, demonstrating commitment to the consolidation of national engineering. In the recent past, we lost many engineers, statisticians, physicists, and others to the financial market, as it is difficult to compete monetarily with these recruiters of highly qualified labor like that which comes from our university campuses. Giving these new professionals an opportunity to see beyond short-term monetization, to participate in the creation of new markets, to work according to their vocation, that is very worthwhile for us.