Thursday 22nd August 2019

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

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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...

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[Nerdherder]

Considering that this has license plates seems a fun contraption to rag around some local fields without attracting any unwanted attention. Competition rallying needs noise.

[MDT]

I watched some 80's rally footage the other night on youtube. I it mute at one point as a test. It really did lose it's appeal.

[Evilex]

I reckon a Rally car with 4wd and decent torque vectoring could be quite handy... If a bit quiet.
Imagine the number of spectator injuries if they're not kept under control- it's not like you'd hear it coming and run out of the way like in the "good old days" of rallying.

[Jack4688]

So long as electric rally cars don’t just have dreadful siren as their spectator warning system then I’m all for it. Hayden Paddon claims to have something interesting up his sleeve for his upcoming Hyundai Kona rally car...

[Jon_S_Rally]

It's all well and good saying it should be able to complete a 30-mile stage, but what about 10 of those in a day, with a few hundred miles of road section thrown in? Of course ICE rally cars have to have fuel stops, but they're only a few minutes. Charging times are going to be critical for something like this, especially if they want it to run to the same schedule as the ICE cars.

The cost isn't bad though, similar to an R2 car. Would be interesting to see the difference in pace of course...

[anonymous-user]

Eh? When did this new shape Corsa arrive?

[Shakermaker]

sleepera6 said:

Eh? When did this new shape Corsa arrive?

its the 2020 model year so i don't think it has been fully rolled out yet

[anonymous-user]

Jack4688 said:

So long as electric rally cars don’t just have dreadful siren as their spectator warning system then I’m all for it. Hayden Paddon claims to have something interesting up his sleeve for his upcoming Hyundai Kona rally car...

That lovely volvo that does the rounds in Wales before the WRC has a terrible siren. Hate it.

[DaveTheRave87]

I've seen a Renault Zoe rally car at a hillclimb. A bit of a different experience with the lack of noise.

I'm not a big fan of electric-only series. Let them race alongside petrol cars and we'll see if they're good enough.

[Gandahar]

I hope the rally spectators have been down the gym for when needed to get it back on the road/track.

[Zumbruk]

Lots of charging points in forests. So it'll have to be charged with a diesel generator, and then what's the point?

It's all academic, anyway. Come the glorious green future, motorsport is doomed.

[NDNDNDND]

dwrights said:

Great to see this. I must admit that over the past year I have started looking for an EV. They just make sense. Fast and frugal. Have been a petrolhead all my life, but I wouldn't buy a vehicle with an exhaust now. Sold my Escort RS2000 and Integrale a few years back because I couldn't see the point of owning them.

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.

[Cold]

Is 1400kgs a competitive weight?

[ArnageWRC]

Whilst we can't really halt technical progress, I have a funny feeling about the future of an Electric/ Hybrid WRC.
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.....

[Straff99]

I think some are missing the point, here. The idea is for a one make series of identical cars to show who is the quickest over a season of rallying. The electric angle brings good publicity for Opel and probably makes it easier for young drivers to get sponsorship with so many jumping on the electric bandwagon. They're not meant to compete with other cars; just amongst themselves.

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...

[Jon_S_Rally]

Cold said:

Is 1400kgs a competitive weight?

It is heavy compared to a petrol rally car (an R2 is just under 1100kg if I recall correctly), but it does have a torque advantage over the latest R2 cars, going on quoted figures at least. The latest R2 Fiesta claims 200bhp and 260Nm of torque, compared to 130bhp and 290Nm from this. Peugeot are currently working on a new 208 R2 that uses a 1200cc turbocharged triple and I expect that will push the power/torque figures up a little further (Opel are also planning a Corsa R2, which I expect will be largely the same as the 208).

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.

[blearyeyedboy]

ArnageWRC said:

You can't really have fans manhandling a fully charged & damaged car that has gone off the road.....

As opposed to doing so for a car full of flammable petrol?

[NotNormal]

blearyeyedboy said:

As opposed to doing so for a car full of flammable petrol?

You obviously don't understand the controls in place to go near electric cars that are damaged or needing to be serviced. ArnageWRC has a valid point imo.

[RazerSauber]

Actually really like this, and the new PSA Corsa in general. 10/10 baguettes for the design IMO.

[blearyeyedboy]

NotNormal said:

You obviously don't understand...

I'm better at this sort of analysis than you give me credit for.

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.

Edited by blearyeyedboy on Friday 23 August 20:38