Electric NASCAR Race Car To Debut At The Busch Light Clash On February 4
NASCAR’s first electric race car will make its debut during the Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on Feb. 4.
NASCAR last year confirmed it was working on the project, which is experimental at this stage.
There are no current plans to start a series using the vehicle and it’s not tipped to replace the the cars in any of the NASCAR national series.
In fact, it’s not really a car.
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An image taken in secret that was posted to Reddit in November revealed it to have the body of a crossover SUV with a large rear wing like an IMSA sports car’s.
This makes sense from a marketing perspective as Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota all have low-roof electric crossovers in their lineups, but not electric coupes or sedans.
The concept vehicle’s body is generic and not designed like any specific production model. NASCAR did the same then when it was developing the Next Gen Cup Series car
According to Sportsnaut, the vehicle is built on the Cup Series chassis, which was designed to accommodate a variety of powertrains, including a hybrid unit that has not yet been implemented.
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NASCAR has tested it at Martinsville Speedway, where it completed 340 laps with David Ragan behind the wheel and was nearly as fast as a Cup Series car around the half-mile track. NASCAR didn’t say how many laps it could complete on a single charge, but a proposal that was leaked in 2022 suggested that races could last 30 minutes.
Short tracks like Martinsville and road courses are ideal for electric vehicles as they can use their motors as brakes that charge the batteries as they slow down. The effect is reduced or eliminated altogether on larger oval tracks.
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This won’t be the first time NASCAR has used the Next Gen platform for an alternative project. Hendrick Motorsports entered a modified version of the car in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as an exhibition of the vehicle’s tech, and the series hopes the electric car will generate as much buzz as that one did.
The exact timing for the electric vehicle’s reveal at The Clash has not been announced, but the main race broadcast is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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