Yahoo News NASCAR Creates Electric Race Car with over 1300 HP
NASCAR debuted an electric prototype at the Chicago street race last weekend.
The tri-motor powertrain sends 1341 horsepower to all four wheels.
The body is made from a flax-based composite and sits taller to emulate crossover SUVs.
The name NASCAR immediately calls to mind the thunderous bellow of V-8 engines as a pack of metallic chariots whip around a superspeedway. While that isn't going to change anytime soon, NASCAR is still exploring other avenues and keeping an eye on the burgeoning EV market. So although it may sound antithetical to the core of NASCAR, the racing series has created the first NASCAR EV prototype, which debuted this past weekend at the Chicago street race.
The electric stock car strikes a unique silhouette, taking on a taller, more crossover-like appearance than current NASCAR vehicles. It has an aggressive face, a muscular stance, and a squared-off rear end from which a sizable wing sprouts. The crossover body is made from a flax-based composite and sits atop a modified NASCAR chassis, with the steering, suspension, brakes, and wheels all coming off a standard Cup Series racer.
Under the bodywork sits three six-phase electric motors, with one mounted up front and the other two in the rear. All four Goodyear-shod wheels receive power, with a maximum output of over 1300 horsepower. The motors are hooked up to a 78.0-kWh liquid-cooled battery and feature regenerative braking, with NASCAR saying it is "ideal for road courses and short oval tracks." While the powertrain won't make much noise, it is still plenty capable of smoking a set of tires, as evidenced by a video of the prototype doing a burnout on the Chicago street track.
The prototype was built with input from the three automakers who compete in NASCAR—Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota. It was also constructed by the same engineers who designed the Next Gen car that debuted in 2022 and who worked on the Garage 56 car that raced at Le Mans in 2023. NASCAR hasn't said when or if it plans to incorporate electric power into its competitions, but the prototype definitely suggests an impending change to the status quo.
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