The landscape for electric racing appears to be broadening, with several new series, or sub-classes of existing series, set to hit the track in the coming years. The latest to throw its hat in the ring is SuperCharge, billed as a global motorsport series based on electric crossover road cars.
With a planned 2022 start, the series organizers are targeting eight events in its first year, taking place in cities across Asia-Pacific, China, Europe, the Middle East and the USA. They claim the racing concept is designed to showcase next-generation electric road cars in the volume and growth part of the market – compact SUVs and crossovers – as well as leading-edge battery technologies.
“Motorsport is at a crossroads,” said SuperCharge managing director and co-founder Rob Armstrong. “Alejandro Agag and Jean Todt have done a great job pioneering electric motorsport. With many countries and cities already announcing plans to ban internal combustion-engine cars in the coming years, the need for road car-based electric motorsport is becoming more and more compelling. We believe it is only a matter of time before there are more electric motorsport series. Given this rapidly increasing EV momentum, we believe the timing and appeal of SuperCharge is ideal and see a clear space for it as the road car-relevant motorsport series.
“We have carefully conceived SuperCharge to take account into these societal changes and to consider the needs of car companies, fans, commercial parties and venues in order to make a truly sustainable and commercially viable new series. SuperCharge takes motorsport into a new and hugely relevant arena and we can’t wait to spark the series into life across the globe.”
Aimed as a manufacturer-focused series, the SuperCharge concept is based on silhouette cars, externally similar to roadgoing models but with a spec powertrain underneath, with an output of around 500kW. Teams will be able to adapt the standard specification car in two ways, bodywork and battery packaging, the latter encompassing energy usage, battery geometry, cooling and battery management systems. There has currently been no mention of freedom to alter battery chemistry.
Events will take place on 1km-long tracks, either in city centers or at existing circuits. According to the organizers, each track will feature four unique characteristics. The first is a 2.5m heigh jump that can accommodate two or more cars abreast. The second, a low-friction zone that will allow the cars to slide, drift and touch, to increase “the drama and proximity of the close-quarter racing”, according to the organisers.
The tracks will also feature a water gantry, adding a wet element to each track, and finally, borrowing from the rallycross tradition of a joker lap, the tracks will include an extra sector, dubbed a SuperLoop, to be used once per race by each competitor.
