Industry Voices | A First Glimpse of Electric Vehicles at NASCAR

Last summer, I wrote about attending in Portlandthe ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, an exciting experience that attracted many spectators who are both electric vehicle advocates and racing enthusiasts.

Shortly after that, electrical equipment expert ABB announced a partnership with Goodyear and, together with Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota, unveiled its electric prototype race car. The car was designed with input from NASCAR's R&D division and was showcased at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race held November 8-11 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Although this new electric car did not compete in the official race, it was displayed in the showcase area with engineers on hand to answer questions, and I witnessed it making test laps on the track. I also spoke with NASCAR and electric prototype driver David Ragan, the professional driver who piloted the car.

After the track runs, engineers were actively analyzing data for further development, and you could see the future taking shape. As Ragan said about electric cars racing in NASCAR: "It's coming." He said, "It took years from the design phase to manufacturing to where we are now." And seeing "15 or 20 of these cars on the track" will take even more time.

When I saw some of the display vehicles that raced on the track about 30 years ago, it was clear that NASCAR racing has evolved. But NASCAR's leap to electric will require a revolution, and that takes time.

However, the most interesting part was the reaction of die-hard NASCAR fans to this highly engineered electric vehicle—both complex and curious, especially when Ragan and the car's sponsors answered questions on stage about the first NASCAR electric car.

While some loyal fans were not particularly interested in the electric prototype (unlike the enthusiastic advocates in the Formula E series), everyone seemed to understand that leveraging the massive exposure of the NASCAR Championship race to showcase this high-tech vehicle was beneficial.

A less obvious but thought-provoking comment came from Chris Shigas, ABB's Director of Communications in the U.S. When asked why "go all in" on launching this car now, he noted that a large part of the motivation was to inspire young people to become the next generation of innovative EV engineers and technicians to drive this rapidly evolving technology field.

While ABB is indeed a multinational leader in electrification and automation (from EV infrastructure to power plant construction) and will benefit from recruiting EV engineers itself, this motivating factor transcends any single company or sector within the broader automotive industry. Time and again, I've heard OEMs and dealers talk about the need for young EV engineering talent, from OEM R&D and design centers to dealer service shops. To fill these ranks, the "cool" factor matters, and I have to ask: for car enthusiasts, what is cooler than NASCAR?

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