The Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up for February 5, 2022 – Global Developments On and Off the Track

The Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up for February 5, 2022 - Global Developments On and Off the Track

On this week’s Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up I look at sustainable motorsport news in Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, Extreme E, Indycar and more. I also have another edition of Getting to the Track Sustainably with news on some upcoming guides that will help you in your sustainable travel plans.

As always, if you have any news you feel should be included in the Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Big Picture

  • The Sustainable Finance Initiative has announced a member event “Formula 1 and Formula E: The Green Angle” on Feb. 16th featuring racer and motorsport entrepreneur Dan Wells. Dan will share his considerable industry insight. From the SFI website:
    • “The environmental impact of Formula 1 has been high up on the agenda for Liberty Media, the owners of Formula One Group. It is not a well known fact that the F1 cars themselves on track only produce about 0.7% of the sport’s emissions, and the rest is made up from the necessary resources for the 10 teams to develop, produce, and run the cars at 20+ events worldwide throughout the year. Formula One is at the cutting edge of technology, and in 2022 the cars will move to being powered by E10 fuel – 90% fossil fuels and 10% ethanol, and with the long term plan to create a 100% sustainable fuel. They are already utilising the regenerative energy from the braking systems into the MGU-K. Indeed F1 power units have a thermal efficiency of over 50%, and with the Formula One engineers and technicians always at the pinnacle of technology – this will only improve in the coming years.”
  • Koenigsegg’s has announced that their new EV Power Pack “Terrier” offers 670 HP and weighs less than 200 pounds.
  • For this weekend’s NASCAR LA Coliseum Clash, Team Penske will use the fully electric Freightliner eCascadia to get the No. 2 racing car of Austin Cindric from Penske Truck and Leasing in Ontario to the Coliseum for the Clash. Penske is spotlighting electric vehicles and Freightliner’s eCascadia will be the first electric trailer at a race in NASCAR history.

Motorsport Series News

The Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up for February 5, 2022

World Rally Championship

Formula 1

  • As Porsche continues to evaluate F1, they have indicated that their presence in Formula E could end if a Formula 1 program is pursued. “It’s not a secret that we are thinking about [F1] and that the factors for Porsche to join F1, namely an increased push for greater electrification to elements of the powertrain, are coming true.”

Extreme E

  • Extreme E has secured a contract extension with AFC Energy to power their race cars for its second season. As part of the renewed agreement, Extreme E will continue to use the company’s zero-emission cell and hydrogen power generation technology. The system uses hydrogen (produced from water and sun) to generate power which is then used across all the vehicles competing in Extreme E.

TCR

Indycar

FIM E-Xplorer

Getting to the Track Sustainably

The Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up for February 5, 2022
Photo via Volvo Trucks

Getting to the Track Sustainably is my occasional feature on developments in sustainable transport related in some way to motorsport. Since logistics are such a critical part of global motorsport, and the fact remains that they represent the vast majority of emissions for the sport as a whole, I link to various developments in sustainable aviation, shipping and trucking that will give you a high-level overview of what is happening in these sectors.

Also, as part of Getting to the Track Sustainably, look for some upcoming guides on Motorsport Prospects that will give race drivers and teams some tips and resources on helping to reduce your environmental impact as much as possible.

Sustainable Trucking and Charging

Sustainable Aviation

That is it for this week’s Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up. Have a great weekend and stay safe everyone!

Mark Boudreau
Author: Mark Boudreau

Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.