This Is What An Electric NASCAR Race Sounds LIke
NASCAR doesn’t have an electric racing series yet, but it has three cars, so of course they had a “race.”
The prototypes built by NASCAR, Ford and Chevrolet that are based on the Seventh Generation Cup Series car platform put on a series of demonstration laps together ahead of the Chicago Street Race on Sunay.
Retired Cup Series driver David Ragan, who did most of the development driving for the NASCAR car, drove the Ford, while truck series drivers Rajah Caruth and Brent Crews drove the Chevy and NASCAR cars.
It wasn’t an all-out race, but they drove the cars at speed to give fans an idea of what a race would be like. The sound of their electric motors not quite as loud as a regular NASCAR car’s V8.
NASCAR executive vice president John Probst last year suggested to the Associated Press that an actual event could be enhanced with music played by a DJ and other elements to amp up such an event.
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NASCAR doesn’t have plans for an all-electric series yet, but UFC CEO Dana White last year said he was having talks with the series about launching one.
The current prototypes have all-wheel-drive and can be tuned to crank out around 1,300 hp. Their battery packs have enough capacity to provide around 45 minutes of racing per charge, but they are best suited for street and road courses along with short tracks, where regenerative braking can help charge the battery to extend the range.
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The Seventh Generation NASCAR chassis — originally known as the Next Gen — was designed to accommodate a variety of drivetrains and bodies. While there is virtually no chance that all-electric cars will replace V8s in the foreseeable future, there have been discussions about introducing hybrids into the mix, which IndyCar has successfully used on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.