Hyundai Veloster N ETCR revealed: Mid-engined, electric and ready to go racing
Hyundai Motorsport will field the Veloster N ETCR in the ETCR racing series.
It looks like a standard Veloster N TCR, but this race car is far from it.
Hyundai continues to partake in a number of motorsport series, but it's making the jump into electrified motorsport. When the ETCR electric race car series commences in 2020, there will be a fully electric Hyundai on the grid: the Veloster N ETCR.
After nudging us with teasers over the past couple of weeks, Hyundai revealed the electric race car at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show on Tuesday. While it may look a lot like a standard Veloster N TCR race car, it's a different animal. Gone is the internal-combustion engine in favor of a midmounted electric motor.
The South Korean automaker didn't mention the battery, however, and it's unclear what kind of power the race car will make. The undisclosed power does, however, flow to the rear wheels only. The mid-engine and rear-wheel drive configuration are firsts for Hyundai Motorsport.
Another unknown is if Croatia's Rimac had anything to do with this race car. Hyundai's N division, responsible for the sportiest road cars, announced a $90 million investment in Rimac in May that will lead to an electric high-performance car for the road. Said car is supposed to be a mid-engine electric performance vehicle. Perhaps Rimac's influence is already part of the race car because Hyundai said the project "mirrors [a] wider strategy for development of electric road cars."
Work started on the Veloster N ETCR back in 2018, but with the sheet off, a rigorous and full test program will commence next month. The race car is planned to hit the track and silently clip apexes in 2020.
Menacing, yet silent.
