 | |
| Category | Electricoff-road racing |
|---|---|
| Country | International |
| Folded | 2024 |
| Drivers | 20 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Constructors | Spark Racing Technology |
| Tyre suppliers | Continental Tyres |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Mikaela Åhlin-KottulinskyJohan Kristoffersson |
| Last Teams' champion |  Rosberg X Racing |
| Official website | extreme-e.com |
Extreme E was anFIA-sanctioned internationaloff-road racing series that usedspec silhouetteelectric SUVs to race in remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabiandesert or theArctic.[1][2] All racing locations were chosen to raise awareness for some aspects ofclimate change and Extreme E maintained a "Legacy Programme" to provide social and environmental support for those locations.[3] The series also promotedgender equality in motorsport by mandating that all teams consist of a female and a male driver who share equal driving duties.[4]
Thefirst season began with theDesert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia in April 2021.[5] The series ended in 2024 with just 4 of 10 planned races completed.[6]
Extreme E began in 2018 as a project led byFormula E founderAlejandro Agag and former driverGil de Ferran.[7] The series was presented to the public in January 2019 with an event inLondon.[8] The announcement took place on board the shipSt Helena which was to serve as "floatingpaddock" of the series, and also introducedContinental as tyre supplier and Brazilian companyCBMM asniobium supplier for the vehicle production.[9] Ali Russell was named Chief Marketing Officer, whileRed Bull sports executives Kester Wilkinson and Nina Dreier signed on as event and marketing managers.[10]
The first team to commit to the series,Venturi Racing, was announced in May 2019 (although they withdrew again before the first season).[11] A couple of months later, German teamAbt Sportsline was the second team to join the series.[12]
In July 2019 a first prototype of the series vehicle, theOdyssey 21, was showcased at theGoodwood Festival of Speed and in December 2019 the provisional calendar for the first season in 2021 was revealed, featuring races inSenegal,Saudi Arabia,Nepal,Greenland andBrazil.[13][14]
In 2020, the series started to attract attention by havingKen Block race the Extreme E car at the last stage of theDakar Rally in January and in SeptemberFormula One world championLewis Hamilton announced the creation of his own Extreme E team, calledX44.[15][16] Former F1 champion and Hamilton's longtimeteam-mate and rival,Nico Rosberg also entered his own team into the competition with Rosberg X Racing, as did fellow championJenson Button withJBXE; Button also drove the2021 Desert X-Prix for his team.[17] A six-day drivers' test was held near theChâteaux de Lastours in southernFrance in late September and early October, featuring among confirmed series drivers some well-known racing drivers likeValtteri Bottas,Sébastien Loeb andJean-Éric Vergne.[18]
In November 2020, the vehicles were delivered to the teams, who could then apply theirliveries and acquaint themselves with the car and its operations. The teams were limited to 100 km of private testing.[19] A joint test with eight teams and a race simulation was held atMotorLand Aragón in December.[20]
TheSt Helena departed fromLiverpool on 20 February 2021, carrying equipment and 9 cars for the first race in April and arrived inJeddah on 14 March.[21][22]
The first season began with theDesert X-Prix inSaudi Arabia in April 2021 and ended in December in theUnited Kingdom.[5] Nine teams were competing over five rounds. Because of theCOVID-19 pandemic the calendar had to be modified during the season with two European rounds replacing the two planned events in South America.[23][24] Rosberg X Racing with driversMolly Taylor andJohan Kristoffersson emerged as the first Extreme E champions.[25]
The second season started in February 2022, again in Saudi Arabia.[26]McLaren joined the series as a new team.[27] The season ended in November 2022 inUruguay. The second season was won byTeam X44 with driversCristina Gutiérrez andSébastien Loeb.
The third season started once again in Saudi Arabia in March 2023.[28] Xite Energy Racing left the series andCarl Cox Motorsport joined the series as a new team.[29] The season ended in December 2023 inChile. The third season was won by Rosberg X Racing with drivers Johan Kristoffersson andMikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky.
The fourth season started in Saudi Arabia in February 2024.[30]AbtCupra XE,X44,Chip Ganassi Racing andCarl Cox Motorsport left the series,[31][32][33][34] while SUN Minimeal XE Team andLegacy Motor Club joined the series as new entrants.[35][36] On 6 September, a week before the scheduled Island X-Prix I, Extreme E cancelled the remaining rounds in Sardinia and Phoenix.[37][38]
Prior to the 2022 season's opening race, Agag announced the creation of a similar off-road electric championship calledExtreme H, featuring ahydrogen fuel cell version of the Spark Odyssey 21 car. In August 2023, the FIA and Extreme E signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to set out a framework for Extreme H. The inaugural season will be in 2025 and the series will be recognized as an FIA World Championship in 2026 if the requisite criteria are met.[39][40] In January 2024, the organised announced that Extreme H would replace Extreme E, rather than co-exist.[41]
| Season | Drivers | Team | Wins | Podiums | SS | Points | Clinched | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Johan Kristoffersson Molly Taylor | Rosberg X Racing | 3 | 3 | 0 | 133 | Round 5 of 5 | 12 |
| 2022 |  Cristina Gutiérrez Sébastien Loeb |  X44 Vida Carbon Racing | 1 | 4 | 1 | 73 | Round 5 of 5 | 5 |
| 2023 | Johan KristofferssonMikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky | Rosberg X Racing | 3 | 7 | 1 | 159 | Round 10 of 10 | 15 |
| 2024 | season abandoned | |||||||
| Season | Team | Wins | Podiums | SS | Points | Clinched | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Rosberg X Racing | 3 | 3 | 0 | 155 | Round 5 of 5 | 0 |
| 2022 | X44 Vida Carbon Racing | 1 | 4 | 1 | 86 | Round 5 of 5 | 2 |
| 2023 | Rosberg X Racing | 3 | 7 | 1 | 182 | Round 10 of 10 | 11 |
| 2024 | season abandoned | ||||||
Teams consist of one female and one male driver, who share equal driving duties. In each session, the team must complete two or four laps (depending on the length of the course), with both team members splitting their driving time in half. The driver switch takes place in a designated "switch zone", where a speed limit and a minimal switch time are enforced for safety reasons.[42]
The format of the Extreme E race weekend evolved over the course of the first three seasons. Under the current format, a weekend is composed of two separate rounds, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Racing starts with two qualifying sessions, each consisting of two five-car heats. Then, a pair of official races take place to determine the event winner. Qualifying is designed so that each team competes in two heats, one for each session. A team's finishing position contributes towards the combined qualifying results, based on intermediate points (10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 for each heat). Championship points were awarded for overall qualifying in season one—per the current system, only the winner of a qualifying heat earns a championship point. The qualifying results determine to which race each teams advances: the top five qualifiers progress to the "Grand Final" and the bottom five to the "Redemption Race". The Grand Final decides positions one to five in the final event classification, with the Redemption Race dictating positions six to ten.[43]
Additionally, a "super sector" is defined, where two extra points are awarded to the fastest team through that sector over the event.[44] During a session, one "Hyperdrive" can be used per lap, which provides extra power for four seconds.
The Spark Odyssey 21 electric SUV was unveiled as the series' competition vehicle atGoodwood Festival of Speed on 5 July 2019.[13] The vehicle is manufactured bySpark Racing Technology, the constructors of the Formula E cars, with a battery produced byWilliams Advanced Engineering. The car is fitted with aniobium-reinforced steel alloy tubular frame, as well as crash structure and roll cage.[45] It weighs 1,650 kg (3,640 lb), and is capable of0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, with 400 kW (540 hp) of power.[46]
The Odyssey 21 was first showcased at the2020 Dakar Rally inSaudi Arabia.Guerlain Chicherit drove the vehicle during shakedown one day before the race start andKen Block competed with it on the final stage betweenHaradh andAl-Qiddiya, finishing with the third fastest time in the car category.[47]
The Extreme E regulations require each team to consist of a female and a male driver who share equal driving duties (with a driver swap in the middle of each race).[4]
In September 2019, Extreme E released a list of drivers who had registered official interest in driving in the series.[48] Teams could select drivers from this list, but they could also sign any other driver. In November, a second group of inductees joined the programme.[49] The first actual driver signing,Sara Price withChip Ganassi Racing, was announced in June 2020.[50]
Reserve drivers can substitute any driver before the beginning of each subsequent rounds. The series also employs "championship drivers" as reserves and advisors, while guest championship drivers are occasionally present to work with the full-time members.[51] Championship drivers can be hired to permanent seats by teams such asJutta Kleinschmidt by Abt Cupra in 2021.[52]
Extreme E races in locations already damaged byclimate change in order to bring awareness to the problems posed by climate change and have consulted ecological experts to keep the impact of their presence to a minimum.[53] The series maintains a so called "legacy programme" which intends to provide support for social and environmental challenges at the racing locations.[54]
| Environment | Host Nation | Location | Season | Legacy Programme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arctic |  Greenland | Kangerlussuaq,Russell Glacier | 2021 | UNICEF youth climate education and children's rights awareness programme,[55]Black ice collection |
| Copper |  Chile | Calama,Antofagasta Region | 2022 | Biodiversity,Loa water frog conservation[56] |
| 2023 | ||||
| Desert |  Saudi Arabia | Sharaan,Al-'Ula | 2021 | Red Sea turtle conservation[57] |
| Neom | 2022 | |||
| 2023 | Severalrewilding initiatives[58] | |||
| Jeddah | 2024 | |||
| Energy |  Uruguay | José Ignacio | 2022 | Marine conservation, ecotourism, and renewable energy awareness[59] |
| Hydro | Great Britain | Dumfries and Galloway,Scotland | 2023 | River restoration[60] |
| 2024 | ||||
| Island |  Italy | Capo Teulada,Sardinia | 2021 | Blue and green carbon stores[61] |
| 2022 | ||||
| 2023 | ||||
| Jurassic | Great Britain | Bovington Camp,Dorset | 2021 | Beaver Reintroduction,[62] in partnership withThe National Trust |
| Ocean |  Senegal | Lac Rose | 2021 | Mangrove restoration[63] |
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TheRMSSt Helena, a formerRoyal Mail Ship, serves as a "floating paddock" and headquarters for the series. It is used to carry all equipment, including the cars, to the race locations (or nearest port) in order to reducecarbon emissions compared toair freight. The ship's environmental footprint has been reduced by converting the propulsion units and the generators to run onultra-low-sulfur diesel. TheSt Helena also serves as aresearch vessel, carrying scientists and potentially holding conferences at the race locations.[64]
Extreme E useshydrogen fuel cell generators supplied byAFC Energy.Hydrogen fuel is generated from water andsolar energy and is then used to charge the vehicles' batteries, allowing for a sustainableoff-the-grid power generation.[65]
Aurora Media Worldwide andNorth One Television were selected as host broadcasters, producing live race coverage and a supporting documentary series, combining sport and scientific stories.[66]Academy Award-winning filmmakerFisher Stevens was hired as the series artistic director to produce the broadcasts. Gil de Ferran said that the "viewers can expect a completely new way of consuming sport, with each episode telling not just the story of a race, but the wider race of awareness and the need to protect these remote and challenging environments being explored by Extreme E."[67][68]
Before the first season in 2021, a three-part TV series has been produced to document the process of creating a brand-new racing series. The first episode premiered in June 2020 onChannel 4 in the UK, followed a few days later onEurosport.[69]
The live broadcast is presented byAndrew Coley andJennie Gow from a studio in London, andLayla Anna-Lee is the on-site reporter and also presents a 20-episode magazine show calledElectric Odyssey.[70]
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