On 16 November 2022, the provisional 2023 season calendar was announced.Saudi Arabia,Sardinia andChile returned from the previous year, with the latter moving to December, whileScotland joined. A further race inAmerica, to take place in either Brazil or the United States, was scheduled for September as a replacement forUruguay.[1] This was later set to move toArgentina, but the plans fell through, with a second event in Sardinia eventually announced on 29 August 2023 to fill the slot.[2]
The weekend format was tweaked again prior to the start of season three. All events will now be double-headers, with one full round taking place on Saturday and another on Sunday. Qualifying was also updated, withtime trials dropped in favour of five-car races: each of the two qualifying sessions will consist of two heats. With the aim of condensing the schedule into a single day, the race format that included a pair of semi-finals, a "crazy race" and a final was discontinued. It is now the combined qualifying results that determine what team advances where, with the top five qualifiers progressing to the grand final and the bottom five to the new "redemption race". This means that qualifying now limits how many championship points an entrant can score: a team qualifying in positions one to five can be classified fifth at worst, while a team qualifying sixth or lower can only aspire to sixth at best. The points system remained largely unchanged—the only variations being a reduction from 5 to 2 points for the fastest Super Sector, and the introduction of 1 point for the winner of a qualifying heat.[3]
All teams that competed in the 2022 championship remained in 2023, with the exception ofXite Energy Racing which was taken over by English DJCarl Cox. All teams use one of the identicalOdyssey 21 electric SUVs manufactured bySpark Racing Technology, withABTCupra XE andChip Ganassi Racing running modified bodyworks.[4][5] Each team consists of a male and a female driver, who share a car and have equal driving duties.[6]
A new team called XE Sports Group was scheduled to enter the series with backing from Australian footballerTim Cahill, but deferred its entry to 2024.[28][11]
Points are awarded to the top ten finishers. An additional 2 points are given to the fastest team in the Super Sector over the whole weekend. Starting from this season, the winning team and drivers in each qualifying heat get 1 extra point.
^Qualifying 1 was cancelled due to low-lying fog that prevented the medical helicopter from flying.[33] Qualifying 2 was used to establish the overall qualifying results.
^Commercially known as the "Continental Traction Challenge".
Neom,Saudi Arabia
Dumfries and Galloway,Scotland
Sardinia,Italy
Antofagasta,Chile
Brazil,
United States, or
Argentina
Kevin Hansen[8]
Molly Taylor[8]
Rosberg X Racing
Christine GZ[11]
Hedda Hosås[13]
Heikki Kovalainen[13]
Fraser McConnell[18]
Emma Gilmour[21]
Nasser Al-Attiyah[25]
Sébastien Loeb[26]
