The FIA's ecoRallye Cup pits dealership-spec EVs against each other

The FIA's ecoRallye Cup pits dealership-spec EVs against each other

The FIA produces some of the world's most gripping races; from high-speed adrenaline in Formula 1 to the jaw-clenching antics of the WRC. While FIA championships are thrilling in almost every way, the organisation also offers a more realistic race that might not duplicate the thrills of conventional racing but gives us a look at production EVs in a rather interesting competition.

So what is the FIA ecoRallye Cup, you might ask? Well, it’s a racing discipline dedicated to EVs – not the variety that races in Formula E but rather conventional production EVs that you and I can purchase from a dealership. The cars in question are completely unmodified and are race-ready from the dealership floor.

The cars in question require road licencing in order to compete. Often prototypes compete in this rally; however, the vehicle requires homologation for road circulation and is used as a day-to-day vehicle. Porsche Taycans and EQEs have competed in the past, but to give you an idea of how unperformance-focused this rally is, the 2023 championship title went to Michal Zdarsky and his stock EV Hyundai Kona.

Unlike a traditional rally, the cars compete in regulation stages, similar to the kind we competed in last year at the Cape 1000. A regulation rally demands accuracy, where cars need to complete a stage as close to the allocated time as possible and mark waypoints along the way to record their timing accuracy. In other words, the aim is to be consistent and accurate, not fast.

The first round of the FIA ecoRallye kicked off on the 27th of January with the Ostersund Winter Eco Rallye in Sweden, with the second round taking place on the 18th of February with the Eco Rally Comunitat Valenciana in Spain. If this is an obscure motorsport that tickles your fancy, you can follow the action, or lack thereof, on the FIA website or YouTube for the latest in your production EV rally needs.

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