NASCAR Unveils Its First Electric Racecar

Part of the experience of a NASCAR race is hearing the engine roar, the rumble of each car’s approach, and the zip when it whizzes past at more than 150 mph.

The top motorsports series in North America partnered with Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, and electrification company ABB to demonstrate a high-performance electric vehicle and gauge fan interest in electric racing. I Photo: NASCAR

NASCAR unveiled its first electric racecar in downtown Chicago, but it doesn’t thunder when the grand marshal says, “drivers, start your engines.” It hums.

The top motorsports series in North America partnered with Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, and electrification company ABB to demonstrate a high-performance electric vehicle and gauge fan interest in electric racing.

They want to represent electric vehicles, and more broadly electrification, in racing as cool, fun, and accessible, said Riley Nelson, NASCAR’s head of sustainability, Jennifer McDermott and Jay Cohen reported for the Associated Press (AP).

AP got a first look at the $1.5 million prototype. The only person who has driven it so far is semi-retired NASCAR driver David Ragan.

The plan is to put the car on the Chicago street course for some fast laps on Sunday morning. Ragan said the sound and smell were unlike anything he has experienced since first hitting the racetrack at age 11.

He could hear squealing tires and smell the brakes. In gasoline-powered cars, the engine’s sound, smell, and heat from the exhaust overpower everything else. But after hundreds of laps, this time Ragan’s ears weren’t ringing. It was really wild, he said.