Extreme E

Extreme E is a proposed off-road racing series that uses electric SUVs to race in extremely remote parts of the world, such as Greenland or Nepal.[1] All racing locations are chosen to raise awareness for some aspects of climate change and Extreme E maintains a "Legacy Programme" which intends to provide social and environmental support for those locations.[2] The series is the brainchild of Formula E founder Alejandro Agag and was launched publicly in January 2019 by Agag and former driver Gil de Ferran on board of Extreme E's future base ship, the RMS St Helena in London.[3][4]

Extreme E
CountryInternational
Inaugural season2021
Teams6 announced (8 planned)
Official websiteextreme-e.com
Extreme E car: the Spark ODYSSEY 21

Race format

An Extreme E race weekend consists of five rounds: Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2 on Saturday, then Semi-Final 1, Semi-Final 2, and Final on Sunday. The Qualifying rounds each contain two races of four cars each (8 cars compete in the race weekend), with points awarded based on finishing position. The four cars scoring the most points proceed to SF1, the bottom four proceed to SF2. Semi-Final rounds are one race each. The top three cars from SF1, and the top car from SF2, proceed to the Final round.[5]

In each race the car must complete two laps of the course, with each team member driving one lap and co-driving the other lap. Teams must have one male and one female driver, who will perform the same driving and co-driving duties, promoting gender equality and a level playing field amongst competitors.[6]

Teams and drivers

The following teams have announced their intention to compete in Extreme E:[7]

Team Drivers
Abt Sportsline[8] tbc
tbc
HWA Team[9] tbc
tbc
Veloce Racing[10] tbc
tbc
QEV Technologies[11] tbc
tbc
Andretti United Extreme E[12][13] tbc
tbc
Chip Ganassi Racing[14] Sara Price[15]
Kyle LeDuc[16]


Drivers' programme

In September 2019, Extreme E released a list of drivers who had registered official interest in driving in the series.[17] In November, a second group of inductees were announced to have joined the programme.[18]

Race calendar

Extreme E plans to race in locations already damaged by climate change in order to bring awareness to the problems posed by climate change and have consulted ecological experts to keep the impact of their presence to a minimum.[19] The full provisional race schedule was announced on 17 December 2019.[20]

Region Host Nation Location Date
Ocean Senegal Lac Rose 22–24 January 2021
Desert Saudi Arabia Shraan, Al-`Ula 4–6 March 2021
Glacier Nepal Kali Gandaki Gorge 6–8 May 2021
Arctic Greenland Kangerlussuaq, Russell Glacier 27–29 August 2021
Rainforest Brazil Santarém, Pará, Amazon Rainforest 29–31 October 2021

Vehicle

The Spark ODYSSEY 21 "Extreme E E-SUV" was unveiled as the series competition vehicle at Goodwood Festival of Speed on 5 July 2019. The vehicle is manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, the constructors of Formula E series machines. The vehicle weighs 1,650 kg (3,640 lb), and capable of 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, with 400kW (536bhp) of power.[21]

The ODYSSEY 21 was showcased in action in 2020 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2020. Guerlain Chicherit drove the vehicle during shakedown one day before the race start. Ken Block raced it on final stage 12 between Haradh and Al-Qiddiya as a guest by the invitation of the organizers A.S.O..[22]

Broadcasts and documentary series

Academy Award winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens was hired as the series artistic director to produce the broadcasts. Gil de Ferran said that the "viewers can expect a completely new way of consuming sport, with each episode telling not just the story of a race, but the wider race of awareness and the need to protect these remote and challenging environments being explored by Extreme E."[23][24]

Before the first season in 2021, a three-part TV series is produced to document the process of creating a brand new racing series. The first episode was broadcast in June 2020 on Channel 4.[25]

Logistics

Event organizers will be using RMS St Helena as their "floating paddock" and operation base. The ship will carry the championship's supplies and equipment, and will transport all racing vehicles from one location to another.

Extreme E is collaborating with AFC Energy to use its pioneering hydrogen fuel cell technology to enable its race fleet to be charged using zero emission energy.[26] The by-product of utilizing these hydrogen fuel cell power generators for charging, water, will be used elsewhere on-site.

See also

References
  1. Burgt, Alex Kalinauckas and Andrew van de. "New Extreme E electric SUV series to launch with Formula E". Autosport.com.
  2. <"Extreme E unveils Scientific Committee and first Legacy Programme initiative". extreme-e.com. 2020-04-21.
  3. "Formula E founder launches radical new off-road racing concept Extreme E". FIA Formula E.
  4. Kalinauckas, Alex (31 January 2019). "Extreme E unveils full series concept ahead of 2021 launch". Autosport. Richmond, Surrey. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. "Race Weekend Format". Extreme E. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. "Extreme E takes lead on gender equality in motorsport". Extreme E. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. "Teams". extreme-e.com. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  8. Kalinauckas, Alex (10 July 2019). "Long-time Audi affiliate ABT Sportsline joins Extreme E off-road series". Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  9. Kalinauckas, Alex (12 July 2019). "HWA becomes latest FE team to join Extreme E". Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  10. Lewis, Niamh (19 September 2019). "Adrian Newey: Formula 1 designer to join Extreme E". Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  11. Coates, Freddie (4 March 2020). "QEV Technologies announces new Extreme E Team". Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. "Andretti Autosport Joins Extreme E Team". Extreme E. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  13. "Introducing Andretti United Extreme E Team". Extreme E. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  14. "Chip Ganassi Racing Commits to Extreme E". Extreme E. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  15. "First Extreme E Driver is Revealed". Extreme E. 11 Jun 2020. Retrieved 11 Jun 2020.
  16. "Chip Ganassi Racing confirm Extreme E driver line-up with Kyle LeDuc signing". www.extreme-e.com. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  17. "Extreme E reveals world-class Drivers' Programme". Extreme E. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  18. "One year down, one to go..." extreme-e.com. 2020-01-24. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  19. "Extreme E Locations". Extreme E. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  20. "Extreme E unveils schedule for inaugural season". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  21. "Guerlain Chicherit to drive Extreme E E-SUV at Dakar Rally". extreme-e.com. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  22. "Extreme E E-SUV and Ken Block prepped for maiden Dakar Rally outing". extreme-e.com. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  23. "Extreme E unveils full series concept ahead of 2021 launch". autosport.com. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  24. "An electric future". dakar.com. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  25. "Extreme E set to make TV debut on Channel 4". extreme-e.com. 2020-06-22.
  26. "Extreme E partners with AFC Energy to pioneer zero emission vehicle charging". RACER. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
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