Traditional motorsport has been around for more than a century and has evolved into many different disciplines such as F1, GT, Rally, NASCAR, and many others. Electric cars are quickly replacing the conventional gas-powered cars on the road and a lot of manufacturers are saying they will produce only electric cars in the near future. Motorsport is changing too with hybrid and full electric tech being used in new and old events.
Electric race cars are already in use at some race events. Volkswagen raced its specially built electric I.D. R race car the Pikes Peak Hillclimb and broke the record for the fastest time. Pikes Peak is a historic 20-kilometre long hill climb up a twisty mountain road in Colorado U.S.A. Many companies like VW use their racecars as prototypes to develop new tech like batteries and motors that might eventually end up in road cars in the future. Electric cars are even being used by privateer teams like Napoleon motorsports and their 2019 Chevrolet Camaro that has been outfitted with electric motors for the 2019 Formula Drift season.
Hybrid systems are also very popular in road cars because you can get the best of both gas and electric power, maximizing efficiency and range. the 24 hours at Le Mans and the most popular motorsport in the world, Formula One uses hybrid drivetrains. The Porsche 919k hybrid won first place in the LMP1 class at the 24 hours at Le Mans in 2015, 2016 and 2017. It was one of the first cars to use a hybrid system in the race. F1 also adopted a hybrid system in 2014.
Also in 2014, Formula E, the world’s first all-electric racing series was started. Formula E is a circuit race consisting of all-electric single-seat race cars that have 335 horsepower. Formula E shows what the next generation of motorsport can be.
In the future, we will see more and more alternative fuel cars in motorsports reflecting the change in cars being driven on the roads today. Electric cars may not completely take over motorsport but might be the majority of cars being raced on tracks in the future.