NASCAR has unveiled its first electric racecar in Chicago. It doesn’t thunder when the race grand marshal says “drivers, start your engines,” it hums. The motorsports organization and its partners Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota and electrification company ABB hope to demonstrate an ultra-performance electric vehicle and gauge fans’ interest in electric racing in the future. They want to represent electric vehicles, and more broadly electrification, in racing as cool, fun and accessible, said Riley Nelson, NASCAR’s head of sustainability. The Associated Press got a first look at the $1.5 million prototype. But the only person who has driven it so far is professional driver David Ragan. The sound and smell were unlike anything he has experienced.
