What Does NASCAR’s New Electric Prototype Mean for the Sport? Senior Official Sets Future Expectations

After months of delay, NASCAR finally drew the curtains off the electric prototype race car that it has been developing in partnership with electrification and automation company ABB. The vehicle was revealed in Chicago on July 6 and it serves as a symbol of the NASCAR IMPACT initiative that aims to decrease the sport’s carbon emission footprint over the next decade.

The $1.5 million electric race car was developed with the support of Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota. It produces 1,000 kW of peak power which is equivalent to 1341 horsepower. How does the car handle this kind of power? It uses a tall and wide rear spoiler to generate higher downforce. Similar to most electric vehicles, it also features a regenerative braking system.

Notably, former racer David Ragan tested an earlier version of this car Zmax Raceway and the Martinsville Speedway over the past months. His words after the test in the later venue were, “I will tell you that the acceleration coming off the corner at Martinsville, when the torque and the power’s turned up, I’ve never felt acceleration like that in my life.”

Now, does all this positivity mean that NASCAR could go the way of an electric racing series in the near future? Executive Vice President John Probst set the expectations during the announcement. He underlined that the car’s revelation was primarily to judge the feedback from the fans. He neither confirmed nor denied that they could create a new racing series.

According to the promotion, the NASCAR IMPACT program is to shepherd sustainability, community engagement, and other social activities. Probst added, “It’s also to educate ourselves and there is no better way to educate ourselves than with a partner like ABB and work with our existing partners and surround ourselves with the best people in the world to be ready for the future, whatever that holds.”

Coming back to the primary purpose of unveiling the car, if a positive reaction from fans is what Probst and his team at the Daytona HQ are looking forward to then they’re likely to be disappointed. One fan had written on an X post of Fox Sports, “This thing better never ever ever hit the race track.” Another reflected, “The death of NASCAR as we know it.” 

With a majority of the opinions following similar lines, it wouldn’t be wrong to state that an electric race car doesn’t thrill a large section of the fandom yet. It ought to be noted that over 75 years of stock car racing have proven times aplenty that change has to be the only constant if the sport has to move forward. For now, though, the noise of the fuel engines is going nowhere.