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It sounds like the sort of motorsport that should have David Attenborough commentating, “Twelve electric off-roaders competing in near silence across jaw-dropping landscapes in the most remote corners of the globe, on an eco-trip to save the planet and its inhabitants.”
Extreme E is the brainchild of Alejandro Agag, the founder of Formula E. He’s capitalising on car manufacturers bringing out fully electric SUVs by giving them a sexy, exciting, environmentally responsible platform. “That was exactly the idea,” the Spaniard, 48, tells GQ. “I thought there was room for a motorsport related to electric SUVs, like I could see there was a space before with Formula E.”
Starting in February 2021, these green rally raids will take place away from the crowds, in areas that have been destroyed or are under threat. “We are going to race in the Himalayas to draw attention to the melting of the glaciers,” says Agag. “We’re going to race in the Amazon to show the deforestation, racing in a deforested area of the jungle. We’re going to race in the Arctic where the ice cap is melting. We’ll race on an island in the Indian Ocean to confront the problem of plastic waste. And we’re going to race in the desert and talk about how the deserts are growing and eating more land [around 12 hectares of productive land becomes barren every year due to desertification and drought]”. There are plans being made to leave a lasting legacy that benefits the environment and communities, such as tree planting, solar power initiatives and clean-ups. There will be no spectators and grandstands, the focus is TV and digital coverage. Action will be captured by drones, not helicopters. As well as live broadcasts, Extreme E will produce documentaries about what’s going on in these locations and the problems faced.
This calendar couldn’t be more contrasting with Formula E’s urban philosophy, racing in city centres. “I was looking to do something different,” says the politician-turned-businessman. “You don’t want to do more of the same.” He’s stepping back from his CEO role in FE to concentrate on this new venture. “Formula E will be part-time. This will be my full-time job for at least the next couple of years.” He remains chairman of the single-seater series and is planning to appoint a new CEO soon.
Formula E couldn’t have been timed better. Its inaugural 2014-2015 season coincided with the world’s car manufacturers kicking off urgent programmes of electrification. There are currently six manufacturer teams, with Mercedes-Benz and Porsche joining for 2019-2020. Extreme E hopes to provide a similarly enticing development opportunity and shop window. “E-SUVs are going to have huge growth,” notes Agag. “Already, most car manufacturers are making their biggest margins on SUVs, and with more space for the batteries the architecture of an SUV is ideal.”
Thus far, three teams have signed up: HWA, Venturi and the Audi-affiliated ABT Sportsline. “We’re talking to many manufacturers and there is big interest,” says Agag. “They may come season one, they may come season two. For us it’s not a problem. They all came slowly into Formula E and they’re all here now. But I think we’ll see some manufacturers already in season one.”
The Extreme E car, known as Odyssey 21, is mostly stock, but teams can develop their own powertrains as well as some areas of bodywork to enable them to replicate their production models. “The process of building Odyssey 21 was a lot easier than when we built the Formula E car. We used the same people, so we already had the relationship and past experience. Williams are doing the batteries, just like generation-one Formula E. McLaren are doing the powertrain. Spark are doing the chassis and the integration of everything. With the same partners, it makes everything easy. They know what we want and we know they deliver. We specified something really robust, really powerful and a real racing car.”
Peak power is 400kW (550bhp), the weight is 1,650kg and it’ll accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and take on gradients of up to 130 per cent. The batteries not only provide power but are built to withstand the torturous nature of off-road motorsport.
There will be 12 teams with one car each, and races will be short and plentiful – around ten minutes – on circuits not much more than five or six miles long. They will run cars head-to-head in a round-robin tournament. Agag promises, “It will be dangerous.”
Rather than fly the cars out to races, like they have to with Formula E, Extreme E will sail to locations aboard an ex-Royal Mail cargo ship. The 6,767-tonne St Helena is currently undergoing a multimillion-pound transformation to reduce emissions and transform her into an operations, logistics, broadcast, accommodation and garage hub. Effectively, she’ll be a floating paddock.
© Luke Walker/Getty Images
“The ship is a fantastic character in our storytelling,” says Agag, who sees the big picture. There’s no getting around that. Even with a conversion from marine fuel to biofuel, ships are pollution offenders. Also, all the drivers and most of the crew will fly to races. “You can’t just stay in bed, because it’s zero emissions. To aid climate change we have to get out and make a difference”. In other words, you have to spend some CO2 to reduce CO2. Extreme E hopes to challenge opinions and drive sustainability, just as Formula E has done, and you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
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