Extreme E: E-Racing over sand and stone 🎥
SOMETHING REALLY NEW From 2021, there will be two more racing series with e-cars - one for battery-powered touring cars (ETCR) and one for electric buggies with the spectacular designation Extreme E. Youtube star and rally pro Ken Block on a test drive with the Extreme 21 in the desert of Saudi Arabia. The spectacular video gives a good impression of this new electric racing series [...]
Youtube star and rally pro Ken Block on a test drive with the Extreme 21 in the desert of Saudi Arabia. The spectacular video gives a good impression of this new electric racing series and its vehicles.
Extreme E was the brainchild of the same people behind Formula E. The organizers are providing all the participating teams with a standard chassis and battery to keep costs as low as possible. Following their example, the organizers provide all participating teams with a standard chassis including a standard battery in order to keep costs as low as possible.
Uniform power packs
The off-road vehicles will each be equipped with two electric motors that meet the specifications and performance values of the second Formula E generation. An Extreme E buggy will therefore have well over twice as much power as the current Gen2 Formula E race cars. Maximum output is expected to be 400 kW (544 hp) and the one-and-a-half-ton vehicle will accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.
As in Formula E, the manufacturers are allowed to develop the powertrain themselves. In Extreme E, however, this only includes the electric motor and the inverter. Participating teams that do not enter with their own development can either purchase drives from the competition at a capped fixed price or use a kind of standard package that Extreme E will make available.
To ensure that the manufacturers and teams also stand out visually from the competition, they are also allowed to design the exterior trim of their cars, the headlights and the front and rear bumpers themselves.
Special venues
The planners for the first season were particularly creative when it came to the venues for the first five events. They are scheduled to start in Senegal, Africa, at the end of January 2021, followed by Saudi Arabia in early March and Nepal three months later.
At the end of August, the series enters a motorsport no-man's land, then heads to Kangerlussuaq on Greenland. The last race for the time being is scheduled to take place in Brazil in October.
Each round is planned as a mini-Dakar rally, taking place over an area of around ten square kilometers and including natural obstacles and differences in altitude. The organizers chose some of the most difficult locations in the world to demonstrate the potential of electric drives. But they also chose areas that they believe particularly highlight the effects of climate change caused by human activity.
Known teams
The first team to sign up for Extreme E is Venturi from Monaco, which is competing in Formula E at the same time. Formula 1 race car designer Adrian Newey, currently Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, is also expected to form his own team.
A total of twelve teams are to compete in the first Extreme E season - at least that is the series' declared goal. Four of them are already confirmed: Venturi, ABT Sportsline, HWA Racelab and Veloce Racing. (ampnet/hrr)
