Youth racing event organised with the help of Vattenfall energy storage
Motorsport has long been closely associated with petrol. But that no longer has to be the case. The world’s first all-electric racing competition for juniors is now being held for the second year in a row.
The competition – NXT Gen Cup – is decided over five rounds, four in Germany and one in Sweden. Famous motorsport arenas are being opened up to the promising young racing stars of the future, and the first round took place on 5–7 July at the Norisring in Germany.
The rest of the races in Germany will be taking place at the Nürburgring on 16–18 August, the Sachsenring on 6–8 September, and Hockenheim on 18–20 October. The season ends at Mantorp in Sweden on 20–21 September.
“We’ve got 20 race-ready electric Mini Coopers that we charge up using fast chargers. These supply the car with direct current instead of the alternating current that you get from regular chargers, and that technology allows the cars to be charged at much higher power levels than when using a regular charger. Vattenfall’s battery storage is used when the local connections need an extra boost to handle the total output. This makes charging significantly faster than would otherwise be possible, between 25 and 35 minutes. This reduces waiting times between races, which is a must to run the competition in this format,” says Anders Skarin, business developer at Vattenfall Network Solutions.
The two batteries have a capacity of about 330 kWh each, and the team responsible for the technology moves them from track to track.
The NXT Gen Cup is brilliant confirmation of how fast-charging technology can be used to promote the use of electric cars in racing and raise awareness of the potential it offers. This race is the first all-electric race alongside Formula E, and there’s a lot of interest from track owners all over Europe.
The race organisers view the development of the cars, technology and charging as the next step, and see the need for support to help track owners build an infrastructure that will enable NXT Gen Cup rounds to be run at more tracks in Europe.
More information about the competition can be found here: NXT Gen Cup
See the Vattenfall website for more information about electrification of the transport sector
Contact: Vattenfall Network Solutions, Anders Skarin, Business Developer,
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