ZEROID joins inaugural FIA Extreme H World Cup with QEV Technologies
London, 1 October, 2025: ZEROID QEV MOTORSPORT will join the grid for the first-ever FIA Extreme H World Cup, with long-time innovators QEV Technologies, to compete in the world’s first hydrogen-powered racing championship.
The new driver pairing sees Fraser McConnell, already one of Extreme E’s most successful competitors, team up with American rising star Gray Leadbetter, who has built a reputation as one of the most exciting young talents in off-road racing.
QEV Technologies’ expansion into Extreme H builds on two decades of leadership in sustainable motorsport. Having powered Formula E, FIA RX2e, Nitrocross, and Extreme E, QEV now takes its innovation into hydrogen mobility, continuing its mission to push boundaries and shape the future of racing.
It has also been in Extreme E since day one. As technical partner to the ACCIONA SAINZ QEV XE TEAM – founded by two-time World Rally Champion and four-time Dakar Rally winner Carlos Sainz – it has overseen three round victories, making it one of the most successful teams in the series' history.
Joan Orus, Team Principal, ZEROID QEV MOTORSPORT, said: “QEV are proud to continue our collaboration in this project. Since the early days of Formula E and EXTREME E, we have always supported sustainable mobility initiatives in motorsport. Starting this hydrogen project, where the company already has experience developing buses under the ZEROID brand, is the next step in contributing to the transformation of the automotive sector.”
Jamaica's top motorsport star McConnell, who drove for the QEV-led Acciona Sainz team in 2024, is among Extreme E's most successful drivers with three event victories to his name.
He won his first overseas championship title in 2019, taking the ARX2 crown, and made history in 2021 by becoming the first Jamaican to win a Rallycross Supercar race when he defeated Johan Kristoffersson at the RallyX Nordic round at Nysum in Denmark. More recently McConnell has won four times in Nitrocross' premier 'Group E' class.
Fraser McConnell, driver for ZEROID QEV MOTORSPORT, said: “I’m excited to join ZEROID QEV MOTORSPORT for this historic first season of Extreme H. Gray and I will both be learning fast with the new car, but I’m confident we can find the pace to fight at the front. To be part of the first hydrogen racing championship is an honor.”
A student of European Rally Champion Patrik Sandell and Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice, Leadbetter was racing professionally by the age of 14 when she contested the 2019 ARX2 championship alongside McConnell. She became a champion before she reached adulthood, taking the Championship Off-Road title in the Pro Spec class in 2022, becoming the first female to do so in the process.
More recently, Leadbetter has competed in Sprint Cars, and off-road racing in the United States, and ran in the 2024 Extreme E season for Legacy Motor Club alongside another of her mentors, action sports legend Travis Pastrana, and Patrick O'Donnovan. She finished her four starts in the top-six, and was a qualifying heat winner in the second part of the Hydro X Prix in Scotland.
Gray Leadbetter, driver for ZEROID QEV MOTORSPORT, said: “I’m super excited to head back to Saudi Arabia and race in Extreme H. Fraser and I have often battled each other, so teaming up for the first hydrogen series is going to be a blast. This feels like the start of something really big for motorsport.”
Ali Russell, Managing Director, Extreme E and Extreme H, said: “We’re proud to welcome ZEROID QEV Motorsport, a brand new team to Extreme H. QEV has been part of our racing family since day one so it’s fantastic to see them bringing fresh new perspectives to the event.
“It’s great to see QEV continuing to innovate under their ZEROID brand as we enter our own next chapter as the world’s first hydrogen-powered motorsport competition.”
The FIA Extreme H World Cup Presented by PIF begins 9–11 October 2025 in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia, where the dramatic Tuwaiq Mountains will provide the backdrop to a new era in global motorsport.