Extreme E


Extreme E is a proposed class of auto racing that only uses electric vehicles to race off-road in extremely remote parts of the world using electric SUVs. The series was conceived in 2018, and the inaugural championship is planned for 2021. It is the brainchild of the people behind the Formula E racing series, including Formula E founder Alejandro Agag. The project was launched publicly in January 2019 by Agag and former driver Gil de Ferran on board the Extreme E's future base ship RMS St Helena in London.
It has been described by media as an electric version of the Dakar Rally.

Teams and drivers

The following teams have announced their intention to compete in Extreme E:
TeamCountry of OriginDrivers
Venturi Automobiles Monacotbc
Venturi Automobiles Monacotbc
Abt Sportsline Germanytbc
Abt Sportsline Germanytbc
HWA Team Germanytbc
HWA Team Germanytbc
Veloce Racing United Kingdomtbc
Veloce Racing United Kingdomtbc
QEV Technologies Spaintbc
QEV Technologies Spaintbc
Andretti United Extreme E USAtbc
Andretti United Extreme E USAtbc
Chip Ganassi Racing USA Sara Price
Chip Ganassi Racing USA Kyle LeDuc

Race calendar

Extreme E plans to race in locations already damaged by climate change in order to bring awareness to the problems posed by climate change and have consulted ecological experts to keep the impact of their presence to a minimum. The full provisional race schedule was announced on 17 December 2019.
RegionHost NationLocationDate
Ocean SenegalLac Rose22–24 January 2021
Desert Saudi ArabiaShraan, Al-`Ula4–6 March 2021
Glacier NepalKali Gandaki Gorge6–8 May 2021
Arctic GreenlandKangerlussuaq, Russell Glacier27–29 August 2021
Rainforest BrazilSantarém, Pará, Amazon Rainforest29–31 October 2021

Drivers

In September 2019, Extreme E released a list of drivers who had registered official interest in driving in the series. In November, a second group of inductees were announced to have joined the programme.
DriverCurrent Series
Sebastien OgierWRC
Andreas BakkerudWRX
Kevin HansenWRX
Timmy HansenWRX
Timo ScheiderWRX
Jamie ChadwickW Series
Katherine LeggeIMSA
Mikaela Åhlin-KottulinskyTCR Scandinavia
Lucas di GrassiFormula E
Andre LottererFormula E
Sacha ProstAndros Trophy
Bruno SennaWEC
Chris IngramERC
Daniel AbtFormula E
Loïc DuvalDTM
Sam SunderlandDakar Rally
Karun ChandhokN/A
Billy MongerEuroformula
Jérôme d'AmbrosioFormula E
António Félix da CostaFormula E WEC
Oliver TurveyFormula E
Takuma AokiJaguar I-Pace eTrophy
James RossiterSuper GT
Krisztián SzabóWRX
Zoltán BessenyeyERC
Sam BirdFormula E
Patrik SandellARX
Simona de SilvestroSupercars
Catie MunningsJ-WRC
Molly TaylorARC

Vehicles

The Spark ODYSSEY 21 "Extreme E E-SUV" was unveiled as the series competition vehicle at Goodwood Festival of Speed on 5 July 2019. The vehicle is manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, the constructors of Formula E series machines. The vehicle weighs, and capable of 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, with 400kW of power.

Promotion

The championship was launched aboard the RMS St Helena on the River Thames in London on 24 January 2019.
Academy Award winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens was hired as the series artistic director and will produce the broadcasts. Gil de Ferran said that the "viewers can expect a completely new way of consuming sport, with each episode telling not just the story of a race, but the wider race of awareness and the need to protect these remote and challenging environments being explored by Extreme E."
The series were promoted and Spark ODYSSEY 21 was showcased in action in 2020 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2020. Guerlain Chicherit drove the vehicle during shakedown one day before the race start. Ken Block raced it on final stage 12 between Haradh and Al-Qiddiya as a guest by the invitation of the organizers A.S.O..

Logistics

Event organizers will be using RMS St Helena as their "floating paddock" and operation base. The ship will carry the championship's supplies and equipment, and will transport all racing vehicles from one location to another.
Extreme E is collaborating with AFC Energy to use its pioneering hydrogen fuel cell technology to enable its race fleet to be charged using zero emission energy. The by-product of utilizing these hydrogen fuel cell power generators for charging, water, will be used elsewhere on-site.