How Extreme E became one of motorsport's leaders in sustainability

Extreme E is currently thriving on just its second season, and the series has already made its mark on the racing world. It is the brainchild of Formula E founder Alejandro Agag, and has attracted names like Sebastian Loeb, Lewis Hamilton, and Nico Rosberg. Now more than ever, manufacturers are seeking to find alternatives to combustion engines that are just as fast but cleaner for the planet. Extreme E may have landed on an almost perfect medium.

Talking to Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen, drivers for Genesys Andretti United Extreme E, Catie said, “I was expecting it to not handle very well, not in the sense that it was built well, but it just didn’t seem like a race car I would normally drive in rally. I was really surprised when I jumped in - we were in France on a little rallycross track - it handled really well and was so smooth to drive. You have so much power instantly when you accelerate and that’s something I wasn’t used to with combustion. The instant torque there is really exciting.”

Timmy continued, “I think the electric just makes it more precise. [The car is] a four-wheel drive electric SUV, so we can set the balance between how much power we want on the front and rear tyres. It’s an extra element of being able to adjust the car to the track and driving styles that is not possible with combustion. Working with these cars, it definitely [feels like] the next step into the future.”

Beyond the advanced technology that goes into the Odyssey 21 SUVs, Extreme E also champions sustainability by establishing ‘Legacy Programmes’. These projects will link to each of the race locations that the series travels to, hoping to leave a lasting positive impact - in the form of ‘both social and environmental support’ - on their surroundings. 

Asking Catie on her favourite legacy programme, she commented, “The mangroves in Senegal were cool. We got to go out in little boats and plant the mangroves, it was a really hands-on legacy programme. We didn’t race there this year but I went back to see the progress of how many trees had been planted and mixed with the local people again. It was really special to see the progress in a year, that was probably my favourite legacy.”

And in regards to how the championship itself keeps a small footprint, Timmy said, “It’s surprisingly similar to what others usually are, we’re just a bit more mindful about making the right choices. Like having to bring your own bowl to eat lunch, for example, they don’t give any single-use things to us here. It’s little things but you know, at the end of the day we’re still racing, just with a smaller footprint. 

Extreme E isn’t stopping there, Alejandro Agag has plans to engineer a hydrogen-powered version of the Odyssey 21 with a full race series set to launch in 2024. As Timmy described, “this championship has the least boundaries of out anything else. That’s just on the technology side, but the race tracks, the messages we can send, there’s really no limit to where we could go.”