Extreme E, an upcoming electric racing series, started delivering its electric off-road car, the Odyssey 21, to its racing teams, and it’s making me jealous.
I want an electric off-road car now.
The new racing series is from the same people behind Formula E.
It aims to be the first off-road electric racing series, and they developed their own car, the Odyssey 21, to make it happen.
The Odyssey 21 was manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, with a battery from Williams Advanced Engineering. It uses a niobium-reinforced steel alloy tubular frame, with a raised suspension and huge off-road wheels. Continental will supply the tires.
In future seasons, the teams will be able to improve their vehicles, but for now, the rugged 1,650 kg, all-electric SUV has a 400 kw (550 hp) peak output that gets it from 0-62 mph in 4.5 seconds — and it can do so at gradients of up to 130%.
Extreme E hasn’t revealed the battery capacity or the range, which is of course going to vary greatly depending on the terrain.
Today, they announced that they started delivering the electric off-road vehicle to the series’ teams:
“American outfit Chip Ganassi Racing received its electric SUV at its famous Indianapolis workshop and spent some time getting to know the first electric machine the team has used, before taking it out to the Nevada desert for its first spin.”
Sara Price, driver at Chip Ganassi Racing , said about her experience with the vehicle:
“Our shakedown with the Extreme E ODYSSEY 21 was a success! We came out to the desert, a place I am super familiar with, but with a car that is brand new for me. We had a great time as a team learning the new car and this electric beast. It’s very new to all of us, so we are learning everything for the first time and working together to make it the most successful program we can. Can’t wait to take on the 2021 season; it’s just around the corner.”
Dan Bailey, CEO at Veloce Racing, added:
“Our time in France was an incredible couple of days, giving us our first opportunity to test our very own ODYSSEY 21. After so much planning back at base, to finally see the car in real life and get out onto the track was extremely rewarding for everybody involved in this exciting project. We felt privileged to be able to test in a safe and secure environment given the current climate.
“The test gave our team manager, drivers, engineers and mechanics a vital chance to put the car through its paces and learn as much as we could in the two days to take away, process and analyse ahead of the following test in December. We can’t wait for the next stage in this journey and we are pulling out all the stops to ensure we will be a leading contender come the Saudi Arabian season-opener in March 2021.”
The Extreme E’s first season is just four months away.
Electrek’s Take
Man, I am jealous. This car is cool-looking. Wouldn’t it be awesome if they make a consumer version of it?
I know that the chances of that happening are low considering making a few units for a racing series is orders of magnitude easier than making a road-ready consumer vehicle, but we can dream.
Maybe, if the series becomes successful, they could get some big automakers to back some teams, and they could make a consumer versions of their vehicles.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
