All Tesla Race Car Series Gets The Green Light From FIA

Tesla Model S P100D has been approved

An all-Tesla race car series has been given the green light by the organization behind Formula One, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The Electric Production Car series, previously called The Electric GT series, has been in the planning stages for the last two years, Engadget reports. It’s meant to race electric vehicles from different manufacturers against each other, but since other automakers don’t have race-ready EVs, they are starting with Tesla Model S P100D.

According to Motor Sport, the Tesla Model S P100D recently passed its FIA crash test, which means that it’s now officially approved by the sport’s highest governing body.

The lineup could be expanded pretty soon though. As Engadget notes, other companies are developing electric cars with specs for racing. For example, Jaguar is planning to unleash their line of performance electric vehicles this year. We can also expect to see race-ready EVs from Porsche, Lucid, Infiniti, and one of Tesla’s biggest competitors, BMW.

The Electric Production Car series will consist of racing weekends where electric cars will compete in three heats to qualify for 37-mile races. Race power for this series will be a maximum of 585kW (785bhp). The series will also have an auxiliary “drift off" competition. This contest will pit the top two drivers against two fan-voted drivers. They will then compete in drifting challenges where the winners will receive three extra championship points.

“We have put a lot of time into refining the regulations to allow for competitive and thrilling racing," said Electric GT CEO Mark Gemmell, as reported by Motor Sport. “With a three-heat qualifying system and two EPCS races, plus our eKarting and eSports rounds, fans will have a lot of racing action to get excited about."

Hardly anyone attended this past weekend's Formula E race in Santiago, Chile, proving race fans have near zero interest in watching silent race cars. While electric car racing has great manufacturer support for R&D reasons, it will be a sport with a very small fanbase. So why not just do your R&D on your companies' Proving Grounds? So much cheaper, and the same zero fans watching.