The most common type of vehicle sold today? SUVs. The type of propulsion pushed by many automakers today? EVs. And the form of racing with so many fans today? NASCAR. These three things arguably led to the Chevrolet Blazer EV.R–and we're pondering if an IMSA version co…
As a street car- Hey thats a cool wagon. As a racecar- 🤮
It's certainly a different shape than I'm used to for a race car, but I think I like it.
Personally, I find the rear wing to be an interesting addition. If you remember, NASCAR tried a wing and fans panned it, preferring the spoiler. I guess with a prototype you can push boundaries.
I like the entire thing. I'd drive the E36 M3 outta that.
Could be a good Pikes Peak car.
Let's assume they derate the motors to 500kW (~670hp), and use the HummerEV's battery pack (so 200kWh)... that still means 24mins of racing with no regen (so, maybe 30mins with regen?)... and that's with a pack that apparently weighs 2800#s by itself.
I look forward to EV's making inroads in motorsports; but I think the above maths indicates that time-attack is going to be the main place we see EV's "racing".
I reckon short-track might be a other option, but that would take a lot of risk and design work... which I don't see being popular.
And, don't forget SummitPoint is still banning Hybrids/EVs... so there's cost/training barriers on the facilities side to overcome as well.
Dear gods, please give me that in street car form. 4cyl rwd would be fine.
If it was de-badged, I would have guessed it was a Hyundai.
In July 2024, NASCAR revealed their EV racer prototype with the help of ABB with a "generic CUV body":
2 weeks ago, Ford revealed their Mach E NASCAR prototype:
Now, Chevy gives us this:
All of them are 3 motor powertrains that use a heavy dose of the current Cup car chassis, and if I'm speculating, probably very similar batteries too. NASCAR's site for their generic EV prototype even includes a photo with Ford, GM, and Toyota EV CUVs:
I don't know if we'll get a BZ4X NASCAR prototype or not, but it seems like they've put some thought and organization into this for quite awhile now. Seems very likely to me that they're definitely considering something organized and sanctioned with this format.
STM317 said:In July 2024, NASCAR revealed their EV racer prototype with the help of ABB with a "generic CUV body":
2 weeks ago, Ford revealed their Mach E NASCAR prototype:
Now, Chevy gives us this:
All of them are 3 motor powertrains that use a heavy dose of the current Cup car chassis, and if I'm speculating, probably very similar batteries too. NASCAR's site for their generic EV prototype even includes a photo with Ford, GM, and Toyota EV CUVs:
I don't know if we'll get a BZ4X NASCAR prototype or not, but it seems like they've put some thought and organization into this for quite awhile now. Seems very likely to me that they're definitely considering something organized and sanctioned with this format.
There's definitely something being organized, seeing Ford and Chevy participation. I'd be curious to see if Toyota hops aboard since they've been very cool to EVs.
Another sign something is up? When I spoke with NASCAR officials at PRI, they were very reluctant to talk about the EV they displayed there. More to come.
Those cars look like renditions from 3 door Civic or Golf vehicles. Or maybe even a Clio. GM & Ford, "Well, we don't make cars anymore so we will do this."
I am excited to see where this goes. To me the body style makes sense, Chevy does not have the Camaro any more so why not promote a body style that people can go out and buy in dealerships with these prototypes.
Yeah I think the real question here is what is NASCAR actually promoting. These chassis were all developed by ABB and basically just skinned by the individual manufacturers—much like Cup cars—but NASCAR really hasn't said much about what they intend to do with them, rather just relying on vague sentiments like "future" and "technology" and "progress." Those are all great concepts, but eventually they have to make the ask if there's going to be a sale.
And I think we have to see a Toyota concept soon, right? NASCAR isn't going to just launch this huge initiative for doing... whatever they're doing... and leave a 33% partner in its field hanging, are they?
I love the idea of alternative powerplants in motorsports. I mean, I love screaming V8s, too, but part of the mission of motorsport is to constantly be explaring innovative ways to go faster. So conceptually I probably like the idea of NASCAR exploring these formats, but they need to tell us the point soon or it's all going to be seen as a weird, pointless focus group exercise.
Drop a Toyota then have a demo race. Even if it's just a green/white/checker shootout before a Cup race. Do something exciting and get people excited.
JG Pasterjak said:And I think we have to see a Toyota concept soon, right? NASCAR isn't going to just launch this huge initiative for doing... whatever they're doing... and leave a 33% partner in its field hanging, are they?
Drop a Toyota then have a demo race. Even if it's just a green/white/checker shootout before a Cup race. Do something exciting and get people excited.
Apparently NASCAR had the ABB prototype doing drift stuff @ Daytona. It was being driven and promoted by Ryan Tuerck, who is a Toyota sponsored drifter. He tagged both "TeamToyota", and "tgr_na" in the post. It doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it could.
That is one of the ugliest vehicles I've ever seen. Moving back to suburbia and having to traverse (pun intended) the jelly bean hellscape of CUVs has been a nightmare for me. I just don't get it, there are infinite possibilities of body shapes with EVs and with both race cars and street cars, we are getting some of the laziest and most mundane styling ever in the history of the automotive industry.
Aren't EV sales way down across the world right now? I.e. Ford losing a ton of money on the Mach E, Tesla sales down across the world, etc? Hasn't Toyota scaled back their R&D and investments into the EV market?
Also with current tech and their longevity in racing applications right now, it seems like they would be best fit for a spec series like Formula E that runs 20 minute sprint races, with teams bringing trailer loads of cars to swap into.
I'm just curious where the market is for EVs in racing. They seem like great applications for suburbia and urban areas though. And I'm not downplaying the performance aspect because the numbers are impressive.
But for gods sake can they make them all look better?
DirtyBird222 said:That is one of the ugliest vehicles I've ever seen. Moving back to suburbia and having to traverse (pun intended) the jelly bean hellscape of CUVs has been a nightmare for me. I just don't get it, there are infinite possibilities of body shapes with EVs and with both race cars and street cars, we are getting some of the laziest and most mundane styling ever in the history of the automotive industry.
Aren't EV sales way down across the world right now? I.e. Ford losing a ton of money on the Mach E, Tesla sales down across the world, etc? Hasn't Toyota scaled back their R&D and investments into the EV market?
Also with current tech and their longevity in racing applications right now, it seems like they would be best fit for a spec series like Formula E that runs 20 minute sprint races, with teams bringing trailer loads of cars to swap into.
I'm just curious where the market is for EVs in racing. They seem like great applications for suburbia and urban areas though. And I'm not downplaying the performance aspect because the numbers are impressive.
But for gods sake can they make them all look better?
Its all lazy battery pack design. If you need to add 8" to the height of the floor for a skateboard design, its easier to hide it in a CUV. Some makes manage more center tunnel designs or at least have holes for the passenger foot wells so the seating can be at car height. Well and aero is a lot more important, so they are naturally all converging on a similar shape. The only real hope is that battery tech improves enough that they can afford to sacrifice some range to make a car that looks better.
DirtyBird222 said:But for gods sake can they make them all look better?
Meanwhile all I want is a utility-box shaped car that isn't jacked up with 8 inches of ground clearance and 65" tall.
This could meet those requirements. Its more appealing to me than 95% of what is on the road.
theruleslawyer said:Its all lazy battery pack design. If you need to add 8" to the height of the floor for a skateboard design, its easier to hide it in a CUV.
Tesla Model 3 can have an 82kwhr pack and a height the same as a standard sedan. I don't buy the 8" floor comment. CUVs are CUV height because thats what people want to buy, not driven by batter packs.
BTW the ABB NASCAR prototype is 56" tall - the height of a Civic.
NASCAR unveils prototype electric race car - NBC Sports
I get it, you need to race what you sell. But SUVs are not ideal for the racing that we know today. What we need is a new type of racing. Why not accept that it's an SUV and use a mix of asphalt and dirt like Rallycross so that AWD and increased ride height make sense? Then, instead of a built-in fuel tank, you have to swap 2 fuel canisters from the hatch during a pit stop. Hatch design, lift-over height, and room behind the last row of seats all come into play. And you can't beam telemetry back to the pits, you need a person in the back seat watching the feeds on the screens in the headrests and relaying info via radio. Finally, for at least 1/3 of the race, you need to tow a special race trailer. Your welcome.
They give giant ev touring car vibes to me. Could be a neat support series to start for some of the city circuits they have been playing with like in Chicago. Formula E races are always hectic every time Ive watched one so nascar style door banging could be a new interesting thing.
The Blazer seems a more natural fit for rally or off road racing, with NASCAR being a really weird choice. How are you going to handle pit stops with EVs in a 500 mile race? Of course, if you solve that problem, you have something that really can win on Sunday and sells on Monday.
This is an interesting choice, and while it may not be the norm, it's awesome to see how things evolve. It may not do well, or it may do amazingly. You never know until you try.
I was going to ask how they were going to do 500 miles, too. 1 hour pit stops instead of 12 seconds?
Not going to swap out a 2800# battery, and I can't see them reducing the battery size so they have to come in every 5 minutes.
Add that the racecar probably weights 5500 to 6000 # and the wrecks we saw this weekend would be a death sentence for the drivers.
DionR said:Add that the racecar probably weights 5500 to 6000 # and the wrecks we saw this weekend would be a death sentence for the drivers.
NASCAR unveils prototype electric race car - NBC Sports
The car weighs about 4,000 pounds. The current Next Gen car weighs about 3,500 pounds.
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