New electric touring car series sparks into life

Plans have been revealed for the  world’s first multi-brand, all-electric touring car series that organisers say will differentiate itself from Formula E as Pure ETCR believes it will promote “real electric car racing”. It will launch with a promotional event at the 2020 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The series is the creation of the WSC Group run by Marcello Lotti, the founder of the TCR formula, and run by Eurosport Events which also organises the World Touring Car Cup. Eurosport Events is part of the Discovery Group, which also has a stake in FE, the all-electric single-seater series that is now in its sixth season.

The formula will feature cars offering 65KWh of capacity from an 800V battery, pushing out 300KW of continuous power and 500KW of maximum power – the equivalent of around 680bhp. Batteries will be supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering, which is also a partner in FE. Recharging will come from hydrogen generators, which will allow a 90% charge from 10% in just one hour, to ensure a quick turnaround for rapid-fire racing. The cars will also run on single-spec Goodyear treaded all-weather tyres.

Teams and cars will be split into pools of four, running a series of ‘battles’ in which each driver – starting from a horse racing- style gate  – will score points to qualify for A, B and C finals, with the overall winner crowned the ‘king/queen of the weekend’. Races should last 21 minutes, with the capacity for four push-to-pass power boosts to aid overtaking. Francois Ribeiro, head of Eurosport Events, added Pure ETCR’s purpose is not to “save the planet” and, unlike FE, won’t exist to “promote technology, but will instead promote a product”.

SEAT, Hyundai and Alfa Romeo are so far the three brands that will be represented in the series.