The FIA World Rallycross Championship is set to become electric from the 2020 season, according to a report from Autosport.
A source told the magazine that the Supercar category will switch to electric in 2020 after plans for the change were first announced last August. The understanding currently is that the new breed of cars will be based on components that will be supplied as a part of a chassis kit. However, different models of car will be able to be used as it is believed that there will be several suppliers of motors and the composite bodyshells.
There will also be a small change in that similarly to Formula One, the 2020 cars will be slightly wider than ones used currently and will also potentially have larger rear aerodynamic devices.
Manfred Stohl unveild the first EV Rallycross car in 2016, based on a converted Peugeot 207 Super2000 as proof of concept.
The source told Autosport, “Electric cars will be the world championship. They absolutely, categorically will be the world championship.
Fifteen cars are required to begin in 2020. Nine different manufacturers have been engaged in the discussions and negotiations so far, but the ability to buy the required components and build a car has to be open to privateer teams if they want to go that way too.”
They also gave some information away about what will happen to the current breed of Supercars that will remain in the series until the end of the 2019 season.
“Electric World RX cars doesn’t mean the current Supercars go away,” they said. “There’s absolutely 100% commitment to keeping the current Supercars and not just as a European championship, as some form of international championship that can race outside Europe if the market dictates.”
The prospect of an electric future for World RX has retained the interest of the leading manufacturers in the series.
Director of Peugeot Sport, Bruno Famin, has confirmed increased efforts for the upcoming season from the team as a view to being prepared for the switch in 2020. The increased Audi support of Mattias Ekstrom‘s EKS Audi Sport team is in part due to their view of seeing electric cars being run in the sport in the foreseeable future.
