NASCAR isn’t the place you’d expect to find a new electric vehicle make its debut, but the racing car company, on Sunday, threw the automotive world a curve ball, unveiling an electric stock car that boats twice the horsepower of the cars in its races.
The prototype debuted at the Chicago Street Race; it can produce 1,000 kW at peak power and is best suited for road courses and short oval tracks, the organization said. Developed in collaboration with Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota, the vehicle was built by NASCAR engineers.
Despite the strength of the RV, NASCAR made it clear it has no plans to move away from its gasoline-based vehicles anytime soon, saying in a press release that “while NASCAR is committed to the historic role of the combustion engine in racing, it is also committed to decarbonizing its operations and reducing its own carbon footprint to zero across its core operations by 2035 through electrification and innovative solutions.”
The EV put on display is powered by three electric motors. One operates the front wheels, while two others power the back. Together, they’re capable of producing up to 1,300 horsepower. That sort of power could convince fans of NASCAR, who are often skeptics about electric vehicles, of the technology’s promise.
NASCAR driver David Ragan took the $1.5 million vehicle out for a test drive and told the Associated Press that his fastest lap at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was “two-tenths of a second slower” than in a gas-powered car. Weight, he said, was the issue, as the heavier car slowed in the turns.
EVs are already a part of the race-car scene with Formula One, which launched the Formula E, an all-electric race series, 10 years ago.