Opel reveals all-electric Corsa-e Rally car
Manufacturer claims to be the first in the world to offer an electric car for customer-based rallying
While the arrival of electric cars in motorsport is already well advanced, there are still plenty of niches and 'first-ever' achievements still to be claimed. Opel is confident it has seized one such opportunity with the launch of a rally car based on the Corsa-e - the all-electric version of its latest supermini.
The front-drive, 1400kg competition model gets the same 130hp and 192lb ft of torque as the road car, but now wears rally-grade suspension and a Torsen differential alongside a roll cage and some significant safety additions - including, predictably, an electric fire extinguisher and a newly developed high-voltage warning system.
Opel quotes a range of 205 miles from the regular model's 50kWh battery so presumably it's up to the challenge of a 30-mile special stage. It'll be a level playing field at any rate: the Corsa-e Rally is built to compete in the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, a feeder series for aspiring drivers that is due to replace the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup, which previously featured modified Adams.
The manufacturer is expecting 15 cars to compete in the new series from next summer, and will show the Corsa-e Rally at Frankfurt next month to encourage anyone interested to part with the "less than €50,000 (£46,000)" it is said to cost. Frankly it's hard to imagine a rally stage without the pop and crack of an approaching combustion engine - but the combination of instantaneous torque and hydraulic handbrake isn't exactly unappealing either...
The cost isn't bad though, similar to an R2 car. Would be interesting to see the difference in pace of course...
Looking at the launch videos of new Audi RS6 today and I couldn't help thinking that the two big bore exhausts sticking out the back of it looked mildly offensive. They just look really old fashioned especially when a Model 3 family hatchback is as quick.
It's the perfect time for stakeholders to cut down the amount of stage/ liasion mileage even more. And possibly to limit spectator access - You can't really have fans manhandling a fully charged & damaged car that has gone off the road.....
I think it's a great idea!
For everyone else. Electric rally cars? I wouldn't go to watch them even if they were driven by Kylie covered in melted chocolate and giving away fifty pound notes...
I did read somewhere that Opel are claiming this has similar performance to the old Adam Cup cars, which were based on R2 Adams, but had pretty standard engines. I think the prize for this series will be a funded ERC drive in a Corsa R2, so I guess it makes sense for these to sit slightly below the R2 in performance terms.
I also read in another article that it will only have 60km range at full chat, so that could make things interesting when you consider road/stage mileage on a typical loop of stages.
I'm aware. I'm aware of the media stories predicting the electrocution of anyone who is silly, and that many bodies including HSE issue (sensible) guidance to prevent people getting hurt by doing stupid things to EVs and hybrids.
But you know what? Despite trying, I can't find any verifiable report of DIY fanatics or mechanics getting killed by one so far, unless they were stupid enough to trust the Autopilot while driving in one. However, I can find many examples of people getting killed or seriously injured working on petrol cars.
I'm not saying electric cars are risk free, and guidance on safety is welcome. But threads like this grossly overestimate the risks of electric cars and downplay the risks of what we have.
In nearly a decade, 400,000 Nissan Leafs have been sold. Many have been DIYed or crashed, and I'm sure a few pushed back into the road by passers by. No one has been killed by being electrocuted by one. No one.
So when people shout about the risks of electrocution in Motorsport by EVs, I call BS on it. It's not zero risk, but we're going to replace a substantial fire risk with a much lower electrocution risk, and I'd take those odds if I were trying to (cautiously) approach a crashed one.
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