Just the other day I published an
opinionated piece on the future of rallying and suggested that electric rally
cars might sound the death knell of the sport as we know it. Well, guess who
got a missive from Luton? It seems that moves are well underway to try and
address the issue. Early days of course but encouraging nonetheless.
Over in Germany, Vauxhall's sister company Opel is developing the first-ever battery-electric rally car, the
Corsa-e Rally. The company currently has two development vehicles undergoing
durability testing at the Dudenhofen Test Centre in Germany.
According to Opel Motorsport
Director, Jörg Schrott: “We have two objectives - Both cars are covering as
many miles as possible, in order to gather the maximum amount of data. There is
no experience of an electric rally car that we could turn to, so we have to
rely on calculations and simulations. These are being gradually replaced with
real data. Other focuses are on loads and temperature management of the battery,
as well as adapting the software.”
Jörg added: “We also decided that
the Corsa-e Rally should match or even exceed the high standards of its
petrol-engine predecessor, the Opel ADAM Cup. While the power output is almost
the same, the 260Nm of torque is much higher than the ADAM Cup’s. The centre of
gravity is low, thanks to the underfloor-mounted battery, and the weight
distribution is also very good. Now we need to find the most balanced chassis
setup, so in January we will start simulating some real rally stages.”
At the present time, the Corsa-e
Rally has the same battery as the production car. The 50kWh energy storage
capacity enables a range of 209 miles according to WLTP. In order to optimise
the range for rallying, the battery offers three modes: in 'Competition' mode,
full power and maximum torque are available for at least 60km. Electric cars
have especially high torque, so the 'Rain' mode will give a torque curve
adapted to slippery surfaces. Teams will use the energy-saving 'Eco' mode
between stages and for driving to service.
Don't expect to tackle the Roger
Albert Clark or LeJog any time soon, but given time, who knows?
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