NASCAR recently introduced an electric vehicle prototype that it claims will become the future of racing. The racing organization touted the EV race car during the Chicago Street Race this past weekend, a highly anticipated event. However, reports indicate that the new piece of racing technology was not well-received by fans of the sport.
The all-electric race car was developed by EV producer ABB in conjunction with Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota as part of NASCAR’s sustainability ambitions. Ralph Donati, ABB Executive Vice President, stated, “ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, and we help customers globally to optimize, electrify and decarbonize their operations. The objective of the collaboration between NASCAR, ABB in the United States and the NASCAR industry is to push the boundaries of electrification technology, from EV racing to long-haul transportation to facility operations.”
Amid the societal craze around the supposed impending crisis of climate change, the racing organization, according to a press release, strives to attain net-zero emissions within the next decade. “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 organization said.
Eric Nyquist, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Impact Officer, celebrated the partnership with ABB in their efforts to scale back emissions. “There could not be a more optimal moment in time to announce our first Impact partner than in tandem with the debut of the ABB NASCAR EV Prototype at the Chicago Street Race,” per Nyquist. “ABB is an industry leader and will help in efforts to decarbonize our operations as we pursue achieving net-zero operating emissions over the next decade.”
John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer, explained that the organization seeks to keep up with the ever-evolving landscape of automotive technology. The internal combustion engine is increasingly under attack as government regulations continually push automotive manufacturers to electrify their vehicle lineups.
“If you look out across the landscape, one thing that’s for certain is that change is accelerating all around us,” he said. “We, from a NASCAR perspective, want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to where our future is going. We certainly don’t want to be in the passenger seat and then someday get to the future and go, ‘Oh, where do we need to be?’ It’s not fair to the collaboration that we have with our OEM partners if we go down a particular route that they’re not interested in or is honestly not relevant to them.”
While NASCAR has celebrated the introduction of this new vehicle, the response from fans on social media has been less than welcoming toward the idea of EVs taking over the sport. “Sell the business while you have a chance & give someone with a brain the opportunity to run the show properly,” one person commented on X underneath NASCAR’s post. Watch footage of the EV below:
Another user offered the timeless conservative adage, “Go woke Go broke.” User Chris Vokaty wrote, “The day this hits the track I’m done.” One person maintained that they would stop watching NASCAR altogether if they tried to phase out the gasoline engine. “I will stop watching if you go full EV, try to listen to your REAL FAN BASE FOR ONCE,” a user named Tracy said.
Note: The featured image is a screen grab from the embedded video.
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