Shop
There are currently no plans for the proof of concept to be turned into a racing series, according to NASCAR.
However, it does go some way to giving fans an idea of what might be forthcoming as far as what the shape of stock car racing could soon look like.
The EV prototype utilised a crossover-style body shape, which has become more popular in the new car market.
In any case, NASCAR program manager for Ford Performance Pat DiMarco said he does not expect the Cup Series to go all-electric.
However, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of EV or hybrids finding their way into the NASCAR landscape.
“The Daytona 500 will [feature] an internal combustion engine for well beyond my [time],” DiMarco said.
“So it’s going to be a balance, right? The experience may be good, may be bad, depending on how you look at it. It’s an unknown.
“We’ve got to work through it – and that’s what this is, it’s educating and taking the feedback from the race fans as to; is this something that they want? Is this something that they like? And is this something that us as the OEMs want to pursue even further?”
DiMarco said it’s entirely possible that something EV-based exists for short-track racing but admitted the same might not be possible for superspeedways.
The proliferation of sprints races in F1 and MotoGP might make its way to NASCAR in some form with the use of EV.
“Can we go race for 30 minutes, 45 minutes at a short track? Yeah. Is that a long enough race to go do something? Probably,” DiMarco explained.
“Nitro Rallycross and some of the World Rally Cross stuff run short races to give people time to watch.
“Do you want to go to the Daytona 500 [with EVs]? No. A mile-and-a-half [track], you’re not gonna run for as long as you are.
“Just seeing where the technology goes to dictate how we as OEMs in NASCAR roll it in.”
The EV prototype was built in partnership with NASCAR manufacturers Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota with the engineers behind the Next Gen car.
NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer said the series wants to explore how electrification could fit into stock car racing.
“We, from a NASCAR perspective, want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to where our future is going,” said Probst.
“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.”
However, die in the wool fans of V8s shouldn’t be nervous about the possibility of an imminent demise of combustion engines.
“One of the things you’ll see out of the Next Gen platform not just this year but over the years that come is you’ll see us experiment with a lot of different powertrains in that,” he said.
“Today, obviously we have the combustion engine. There’s a long, long road ahead for the combustion engine, be it powered from sustainable fuel or hydrogen, for that matter.
“That’s something else that we’re very interested in. But then there’s obviously also the electrification side of that, be it hybrid [or otherwise].
“There’s no plans right now to have a series that’s electric,” he added.
“But I will also say I learned a long time ago you never say ‘never’ or ‘always,’ so that’s a good life lesson.”
