FIA reveals ESV entry-level electrical racing platform guidelines
2 min read
The FIA on Friday launched the primary technical rules for a brand new electrical racing class.
Referred to as Electrical Sport Automobile (ESV), the brand new class is the primary sanctioned by the FIA for electrical race vehicles derived from street vehicles. It is supposed 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 keeping 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 will exclude the numerous electrical crossovers presently in the marketplace. A normal U.S.-spec Hyundai Ioniq 5, for instance, stands 63.0 inches tall.
FIA Electrical Sport Automobile 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 shall 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 principally 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, might 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 based mostly on components corresponding to weight, energy, and aerodynamic efficiency. There’s additionally an allowance for groups to view real-time vitality consumption via onboard knowledge loggers.
FIA Electrical Sport Automobile class
Whereas the FIA has backed the System E single-seater collection 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 collection, 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.
