Tesla Inc’s electric cars, which have a passionate following around the world, will soon have their own racing competition, a global sports organizer said on Thursday.
Electric GT Holdings Inc said motorsports governing body Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has approved circuit races for the Tesla Model S P100D.
“The championship is the first all-electric circuit race series in the world and heralds the dawn of a new electric future,” Electric GT said on its Web site.
Last week, the race-prepared model passed its official FIA crash test required for competition, it added.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has billed a Model S P100D with “Ludicrous mode,” capable of going from zero to 96kph in 2.5 seconds, as the third-fastest-accelerating production car ever made.
That is slower only than the Ferrari NV LaFerrari and Porsche AG 918 Spyder two-seaters, Tesla said.
No date for the races has been announced, but they will involve 20 international drivers racing for 10 professional teams, Electric GT said, adding that they are to be organized in two rounds of 60km each, one in the day and another at dusk, after a three-heat qualifying round.
Competition for 100 percent electric vehicles has grown.
Formula E, which bills itself as the world’s first fully electric international single-seater street racing series, brings competition to 10 cities around the world.
Since it began in 2014, the series has drawn an increasing number of automakers. The 2018-2019 season is to include Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and BMW AG.
Volkswagen AG on Wednesday said that a 100 percent electric prototype, driven by Frenchman Romain Dumas, is to join the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the US in June.
After winning Pikes Peak three times, Dumas aims to top the best time realized by an electric car in the race, American Rhys Millen’s 8 minutes, 57 seconds, 118/1000, which is also the third-best overall time.
Dorna Sports SL, which runs the MotoGP World Championship of motorcycle racing, is preparing an electric motorcycle championship next year, when the World Rally Championship prepares to become the “E-WRX” in 2020.
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