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All-Tesla electric racing series gets the green light

Starting with race-prepped Tesla P100Ds, EPCS hopes to bring electric touring car racing to the masses soon.

Electric GT

The overwhelming sensation when someone gets to drive a Tesla Model S for the first time, particularly one of the D models, is just how shockingly quick it is. That ultimately leads some of us down the path of, "What if they turned this into a race car? How cool would that be?" Well, thankfully people with more money and even less sense than us decided to create an all-P100D racing series and they just got the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (aka FIA aka the global racing sanctioning body) stamp of approval. We're stoked.

The Electric Production Car Series was actually announced two years ago as the Electric GT World Series, but at that time it seemed like a bunch of blue-sky-solutioneering nonsense that sounds awesome on paper but would never work in real life (kind of like my spec Aztek racing series). But now, with the thumbs-up from the notoriously cantankerous FIA, the series organizers can get down to the hard work of scheduling their season and recruiting teams to actually do the racing.

The race-prepped Model S P100D that will initially make up the grid is awesome. The Model S has never been an ugly car, but it's amazing what a giant wing and front splitter can do for its level of menace. It kind of reminds us of the excellent KPax Racing S60 that ran in the Pirelli Challenge a few years ago, and that's a good thing. In addition to the upgraded aero, the racing P100D gets a fancy, stiffer racing suspension and a stripped interior.

Unfortunately, because the series isn't officially sanctioned by Tesla, the racing engineers are having trouble with the car's battery management software. Because the Model S doesn't know that it's a race car (cue deep philosophical implications), it starts to shut the battery down when it detects excess heat in the pack, which is a problem because racing heats up a battery pack like nobody's business. EPCS engineers have spoken with Tesla, and Daddy Elon knows that the series exists, but there is no official solution as of now.

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With bags of torque and all-wheel drive, the P100D lends itself well to touring car racing. 

Electric GT

While the P100D is the only car slated for the series now, the organizer's goal is to have all the hot electrics from other manufacturers such as Jaguar and Porsche join the field and compete against one another. Let's all take a moment and picture a bunch of Mission Es, I-Paces and Teslas going wheel to wheel, banging around like they were Australian V8 Supercars or late-80s DTM.

Yeah, it should be good. Fingers crossed that EPCS will get all its ducks in a row and finally bring us the rowdy, fun electric racing that we've all been dreaming of.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).

Article updated on February 1, 2018 at 4:09 PM PST

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Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
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