FIA reveals ESV entry-level electrical racing platform guidelines

The FIA on Friday launched the primary technical rules for a brand new electrical racing class.

Referred to as Electrical Sport Car (ESV), the brand new class is the primary sanctioned by the FIA for electrical race vehicles derived from street vehicles. It is meant to function an entry-level class for electrical racing on the nationwide and regional ranges, in addition to allow producers to supply turnkey electrical race vehicles, in accordance with an FIA press launch.

Taking its cue from the Group N class for internal-combustion vehicles, ESV will enable solely minimal modifications from road-going manufacturing fashions. It is open to “grand touring vehicles and four-door, coupe-shaped sports activities sedans,” with a chassis-height restrict of 57.4 inches. That may exclude the various electrical crossovers at present in the marketplace. An ordinary U.S.-spec Hyundai Ioniq 5, for instance, stands 63.0 inches tall.

FIA Electrical Sport Car class

As a production-based class, producers should construct a sure variety of street vehicles to homologate EV fashions for ESV. On the outset, the requirement might be 300 items over the primary 24-month interval from homologation.

ESV is open to rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive automobiles, with a minimal energy output of 410 hp. Bodywork should stay largely unchanged, however the guidelines enable for fender flares to accommodate wider tires and extra cooling ducts. Sure parts, together with doorways, rear hatches, spoilers, and diffusers, could be changed with lighter-weight variations sustaining the inventory form.

To assist organizers group vehicles competitively, the FIA may also apply its Efficiency Issue methodology from hill-climb racing, which creates a price primarily based on elements comparable to weight, energy, and aerodynamic efficiency. There may be additionally an allowance for groups to view real-time power consumption via onboard information loggers.

FIA Electrical Sport Car class

Whereas the FIA has backed the Components E single-seater sequence and an electrical rallycross class, that is the group’s first concerted effort to again a production-based electrical racing class for tarmac circuits.

The FIA beforehand provided assist to the Electrical GT sequence, which aimed to make use of modified Tesla Mannequin S race vehicles (with no obvious assist from Tesla). It additionally introduced an electrical class in 2021, promising efficiency just like present GT3 vehicles, however neither effort materialized.