While Formula E is grabbing most of the headlines in terms of paving the way for electric motor sport, the grand scope for ‘carbon-neutral’ racing is rather fragmented; with a number of hydrogen-electric hybrid developed for hill-climbs, rallies, ice-racing and GT Racing.
Former Formula 1 driver, Jan Lammers broke the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for a hydrogen car in the Delft University-built Forze VI, while Nobuhiro Tajima obliterated the Pikes Peak record with the Rimac 1.1 megawatt racer.
GreenGT’s H2 Hydrogen racer may be a little on the robust side and too experimental for series competition, but the Electric GT series – if it works – could prove to be the successful sedan counterpart to the Formula E open-wheeler series given its high profile template – Tesla.
With its Model S already has a higher profile than Formula E given its marketing strategy of taking its product to the people (in shopping centres), but thus far, Tesla founder Elon Musk has resisted any urges – including that of Alejandro Agag – to enter into sporting competition.
“I met with Elon Musk over two and a half years ago in his factory near San Francisco,” said Agag. “I invited him to come into the championship and he…politely refused. He said he wanted to keep his teams focused on his road cars and he didn’t want to be seen to go racing. For the moment Tesla is a no. I know that within the company they would probably like to come racing. Engineers love those kind of challenges. But it has to come from the top and we respect that. Other OEMs are more used to racing. Tesla is a company that is a non-traditional OEM so probably racing is not so familiar for them as it would be for companies such as Renault or Audi.”
Being required to use a homogenised chassis and battery technology would hardly be an easy sell to Musk. Likewise, having to fight against large-resourced outfits such as DS Peugeot Citroen, Renault and VW wouldn’t be the most attractive option.
But despite Elon politely refused Alejandro Agag’s advances two years ago, Mark Gemmell’s Electric GT series has taken their own initiative to base their (for the present) one-make series on the popular Tesla S P85+
Tesla doesn’t exactly like ‘outsiders’ messing with their technology. But Gemmell and Agustin Paya (famous for his Dakar electric vehicle attempt) have tweaked the P85+ to make them track ready whilst maintaining the approval of Tesla.
Despite being a 2-tonne sedan, the P85+ is made for racing, with dual-motors giving the long wheel-base tourer excellent handling. Its weight distribution, ridiculous amount of torque and astonishing low centre of gravity creates cornering speed that defies belief. Gemmell and Paya have worked extensively with professional drivers to reduce weight and increased cooling, however there will still be an emphasis on efficient driving as not to hit the power - rewarding smooth drivers.
Catalunya, Donington, Assen, Estoril and Nurburgring GP track are just some of the circuits planned to host the series, while the races themselves should last around 45 minutes, which is on par with MotoGP. A format that should click with race fans
Who will maintain the cars and what implementations have been put in place for charging, damage and maintenance is yet to be revealed and as a control formula, just what kind of adjustments the teams will be able to make (and how will it be scrutineered) will be an interesting prospect.
That said, if Electric GT can keep Tesla happy, there may even be the prospect of Aston Martin and even Porsche joining the fray. Then comes the daunting task of going about regulating the category to ensure equal competition and maintaining manufacturer interest.