Electric race cars are becoming more common, but
they also bring an assortment of new and unique challenges for drivers and
mechanics. Cupra’s e-Racer is a bit of an
oddity as it’s a high-tech electric vehicle which can burn though 441 lbs of dry ice on track days. While it sounds odd than an electric vehicle
would need dry ice, Cupra uses it cool the car’s 65 kWh battery pack which
weighs 450 kg. The cooling requirements are so important that the car
has been equipped with a special indicator which warns the driver to return to
the pits when the battery starts getting too warm.
Speaking of the battery, the electric powertrain
causes drivers to rethink a lot of things. As Cupra driver Jordi Gené
explained, “The driving style is completely different and now you have to use
other parameters in order to know what speed you’re driving, how to negotiate a
corner or the right time to apply the brake.” He went on to say driving the
e-Racer “implies learning from scratch” as model is significantly heavier than
traditional race cars and drivers can’t rely on engine sounds to know how to
react.
Drivers aren’t the only ones that have to get
accustomed to the new setup as mechanics use specially designed tools to work
on the model. As an example, Cupra said the team uses special gloves that can
resist up to 1,000 volts of electricity.
Despite the challenges, Cupra continues to test the
e-Racer and expects it will make its racing debut in the ETCR category in 2020.
When it arrives, the rear-wheel drive model should have an electric powertrain
that produces 670 hp and 960 Nm of torque. This
enables the car to rocket from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds before
hitting a top speed of 270 km/h.
