Jenson Button believes we will see more car manufacturers join the Extreme E off-road racing series.
Team owner and 2009 Formula One world champion Jenson Button expects the new Extreme E off-road racing series for electric SUVs to see an influx of manufacturers in the next year or two.
Button’s JBXE team is partnered by Lotus Engineering, a subsidiary of the British sportscar maker, in a series that races in remote locations to highlight climate change and promote sustainability.
A Lotus engineer joined the team last weekend for the second round in the coastal dunes of Senegal, with JBXE finishing third.
« It has to be a fantastic playground for manufacturers to really learn and prove out their systems. And it’s a fun way to do it, » Button said in a video conference.
« It’s really good for Extreme E to have a manufacturer like Lotus and I think it will attract a lot more manufacturers.
« You will see the OEMs [carmakers] coming to the category, whether its next year or the year after. And it will just grow very quickly when we see that happen. »
Lotus, owned by China’s Geely and Malaysia’s Etika Automotive, hopes to sell only electric cars by 2028 with a new plant in the Chinese city of Wuhan and ‘lifestyle’ models expected to include an electric SUV.
Group Lotus PR manager Rob Borrett hoped the partnership would be a long one and said it was all about learning for the future.
« What better race series to be in from the beginning than Extreme E for us, » he added.
Volkswagen-owned Seat’s Cupra brand is the other automotive manufacturer involved in Extreme E as a technical partner to Germany-based ABT.
The teams all use ODYSSEY 21 SUVs, manufactured by Spark Racing Technology. The French company also makes cars for the city-based Formula E series which has been embraced by leading manufacturers.
Formula One champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg also have their own Extreme E teams but Button is the only one of the three also racing.
« I’m definitely on the back foot but for me it’s all about learning, I want to do stuff that is challenging, » said Button. « However scary it is, I still want to race the car.
« In an F1 car you kind of know the limits… With this thing, it can throw you through a bush. It might be OK but there might be a giant boulder on the other side. It’s definitely a little bit scarier than F1. »
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/31541501/former-f1-world-champion-jenson-button-predicts-more-carmakers-join-lotus-extreme-e
