Extreme E

Extreme E is this new series that’s trying out a pretty radical racing concept.

Basically, Gil de Ferran and Alejandro Agag (CEO Formula E) came up with the idea for a new competition. Much like Formula E, the goal is to shake up the motorsport world by pushing green tech on a global scale. The platform uses modified electric SUVs powered by two Formula E motors, and they're letting various manufacturers tweak the chassis design and some of the smaller internal components.

The cars are meant to show just how far electric vehicle tech can be pushed—testing limits everywhere from the frozen North Pole to the rugged terrain of the Amazon Rainforest, through the intense heat of the Sahara Desert, and finally up into the thin air of the Himalayas.

The whole point behind Extreme E is to wake people up to how much humanity has damaged certain parts of Earth. That's why the races will actually take place in those specific spots. We're talking about devastated areas of the Amazon, shrinking polar ice caps, the Sahara Desert expanding because of deforestation, rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean swallowing islands, and the glaciers in the Himalayas disappearing due to waste buildup.

The race format will follow a World Cup style. Drivers will be split into groups for sprint stages around 6.2 miles kilometers, eventually moving into quarterfinals, semifinals, and finally the championship. Each stage will happen on its own dedicated track.

They aren't doing live broadcasts. Instead, they'll release content featuring reports on these damaged environments, efforts to help local communities, and then condensed footage of the sprints and the winners being announced.

This year, we'll see what the prototype looks like out on the track. Next year, we'll find out which manufacturers are involved and what their specific cars look like. The very first race is expected to kick off in early 2021.

One unique thing about this series is the paddock itself. It’s mobile, traveling all over the world. They're using the RMS St Helena as a base, which will feature platforms for the teams to prep their cars and even include a VIP lounge.

Are we really calling these SUVs? Or should we just call them the ultimate all-purpose pieces of junk?

The new era of the Kamal Trofee

I’ve been reading that Gil de Ferran wants big names like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to join the fray.

Honestly, getting Hamilton involved feels like a long shot. On the other hand, Alonso mentioned wanting to give rally a shot with Toyota, and if he enjoys that, maybe he'll jump into Extreme E. Though, he'd have to actually get used to electric power first... It could also be a great marketing move for him—imagine him joining forces with Kimera Racing. Financially speaking, he probably wouldn't even blink at the cost.

At the end of the day, Extreme E needs to get its feet on the ground and bring in some different talent, maybe someone like Valtteri Bottas, Robert Kubica, or even Mercedes drivers. To me, Kubica seems like the most likely candidate; once he's done with Formula 1, he might just look for a new adventure.

Just like how Formula E pulls in former Formula 1 drivers, or how WEC draws in those GT Racing stars, Extreme E could definitely attract talent from WRC, Rallycross, or even Red Star Belgrade.

Maybe they should try running a competition where they race against global mega-corporations on their own turf, or at least something comparable...🙂

I'm honestly bored with this empty rhetoric claiming cars are the sole culprits behind pollution. 🙄
It’s pure hypocrisy, acting like EVs run exclusively on clean energy when they’re actually powered by gas, diesel, and coal plants
plus nuclear, all while factoring in massive losses during transmission, charging, discharging, and converting electricity back into mechanical energy. So much for "clean." 😵

It would be about time someone conducted a serious study on the actual pollution footprint caused by mass EV adoption,
including the mess left behind when those batteries leak after they die, or what happens to all those busted solar panels and stuff...
I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they end up being just as dirty, if not worse, than old-school diesels. ☕

And here’s the kicker with these famous EVs: the pollution will be concentrated right where the power plants are. These vehicles basically create localized hotspots instead of spreading it out...
So, people could quite comfortably just drive in circles around a nuclear plant. 🙂
For instance, it would be ideal to drop them near Extreme e ☕

Because there's a real chance we're looking at a new Chernobyl thanks to them...
Realistically, if EV numbers actually skyrocket, there's zero chance energy production scales up any other way than through nuclear power.
And you can bet your life those won't be high-quality, ultra-safe plants in India or China or wherever else lacks decent quality control.

@ tbf

and honestly, their audio quality is absolute garbage too

Tibi, FE and EE were actually designed with the goal of creating non-toxic batteries and green generators. I can't recall the specifics right now, but FE batteries are charged using some pretty revolutionary green generator tech.

As for EE, they’re going to keep pushing forward and developing batteries that don't rely on cobalt at all.

What a joke. I’ll bet my life savings $3.25 that nobody is even going to remember this entire series or its format after two or three seasons pass.

Gregory Brown94 said:Tibi, FE and EE are designed to create non-toxic batteries and green generators. I can't recall right now, but FE batteries are charged using some revolutionary green generator tech.

EE will keep pushing forward and developing cobalt-free batteries.

What exactly is this "green generator technology"?
Are we talking about generators powered by farts from organic beans? 🤔

Or maybe it's that Chinese green generator that supposedly protects you from black magic too😲
Or is it that one fake green generator from overseas that everyone knows is just a perpetual motion machine...

I love this kind of nonsense—where you take a 1kW input and, thanks to "pure genius," you somehow get 8kW out of thin air. 🙂
The only thing I don't get is why anyone would even bother charging an EV, if you can just shove a green generator straight into the car...
Just pedal the damn thing or use a tiny battery to start it, then let the green generator do the heavy lifting. It produces an extra 7kW for every 1kW it gets from the hybrid system or KERS. Plenty of juice to drive forever and charge the battery at the same time...
The only real issue might be what to do with all that excess energy. 🤔
Yeah, that sounds like a real struggle... 😁

They can talk all they want, but the reality is that nothing besides nuclear is actually going to work for serious, global-scale usage...
Solar panels, wind farms, etc.—they aren't nearly as eco-friendly as the hype suggests, let alone profitable....
And they definitely don't have the power or the stability to meet massive demands like what cars require.
Sure, they can be used for a couple of units as a PR stunt or to show off, but in the real world? Forget about it...

Maybe I'll whine about these "green sources" and then act wise by blaming the massive pollution caused by sudden electricity spikes and the need for more nuclear plants on those retirees aged 65 to 115 who watch TV 24/7 and forget to turn off the bathroom light...
Don't worry, I'm sure there will be a study claiming EVs are pure as driven snow and that the seniors are entirely to blame...

Gregory Brown94 said:It could also work as a bit of a marketing play for Alonso—you know, joining up with the Kim FA Racing team and all that.

You really think they’d see Alonso as a marketing asset? 🤨

Who even is Alonso?
Is he that guy who drove for McLaren Honda? I can't quite remember. 🤷

Just kidding, but kids are going to be asking stuff like this pretty soon...
I mean, does anyone actually remember Button?
The guy's a legend. He beat Hamilton and was actually leading the championship in 2010 and 2012. (I was looking that up earlier and had to double-check three times because it sounded too crazy to be true 😬)

Not quite. The consensus on Alonso is pretty clear: he’s an incredibly talented, lightning-fast, and consistent driver. He’s that top-tier breed you just don't see very often. Even ten or fifteen years from now, anyone who follows motorsports will still know his name, just like everyone today knows who Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb, Mika Häkkinen, or even Juan Pablo Montoya are. Personally, I don't think Button is in that same stratosphere. He’s more part of that slightly broader group sitting a half-step below the elite. He’s great, sure, and he can definitely catch fire when things line up, but he’s not quite at the absolute summit. He sits somewhere in that same bracket as Rosberg, Webber, and back in the day, Massa or even Trulli—and unfortunately, maybe Ricciardo too. But hey, maybe I've got him wrong.

I don't even need to check the hidden posts to know he's bashing Alonso—it’s pretty obvious. He's like a broken record; I guess Alonso is just constantly on his mind 🤣

Tibi, are you actually serious right now or just pulling my leg? I was on my phone earlier and couldn't really look it up quickly because I was rushing to get ready for work.

Anyway, Extreme E uses mobile generators powered by glycerin. That fuel is so non-toxic you could basically drink a glass of it and be totally fine.

Like I said before, this is all just for show. Totally useless in the real world...

The reality is that hybrids actually have some potential for the future of the auto industry...
but pure EVs aren't going anywhere, and they won't, unless someone invents a magic little cube the size of a pack of gum that weighs nothing and can somehow churn out massive amounts of electricity on its own...

Sure, there's a massive global surge in EV production and sales right now. But if even half—or heaven forbid, everyone—swapped their cars for EVs tomorrow, we wouldn't be saving the planet. We'd probably be destroying huge chunks of it, if not the whole thing...
Because let's face it: the only way to offset that kind of energy demand is by frantically building (and likely sloppily building) a mountain of nuclear plants across the country. Just imagine the fallout from that...

Plus, EVs are hands down the most expensive way to get around. Ridiculously overpriced vehicles paired with disgusting maintenance costs...
Supposedly everything is wonderful right now, like "🙂" and suddenly a mile costs next to nothing, and you've even got free charging stations 🙂
Good luck finding one if everyone actually starts driving them like they're supposed to...
But here's the kicker when the batteries die (and they will, not *if*, but *when*!). They’re bound to fail somewhere between 30,000 and 125,000 miles depending on quality. Once that happens, the car becomes insanely expensive, making the cost per mile higher than in a V12 Ferrari...

Honestly, this whole EV hype feels like those classic pyramid schemes where you recruit ten friends to chip in a few bucks, and then you get a hundred back 😍 and all that nonsense...
A bunch of "if this, if that..." bullshit where everything supposedly aligns and turns out great 🙂
Right now, it's useless junk that won't even take you on a road trip unless you're prepared to drive for two days straight or haul a trailer with a generator behind you...
But hey, nothing is ever perfect. In a few months, I'm sure even grandmas in rural West Virginia will be happily selling homemade cheese by the highway just so you can fast-charge your battery using "free local green energy." 🙂

crimsonhawk23 said:I don't even need to dig through the hidden posts to see how much he's bashing Alonso. It’s constant. Like some parrot, he's got nothing but Alonso on his mind all day long. 🤣

Exactly. Even when reading between the lines, he brings up Alonso just as often as he mentions Lewis Hamilton. 🙂

And now we're approaching the end of his protege's career, somewhere around that summer in 2019 back when things were happening in sunny California.

mellowtiger83 said:Exactly! Reading between the lines, he’s hinting at Alonso—but honestly, Lewis Hamilton is right there too... 🙂

I mean, we're basically approaching the end of his protege's career soon—somewhere around that summer of 2019 in sunny Los Angeles

🤣

👍

mellowtiger83 said:I suppose his driver's career might start winding down around the time they head to FC Barcelona during that summer of 2019.

There’s no real rush—Sebastian Vettel still possesses that one thing Charles Leclerc lacks despite all his raw talent... experience, I guess. Though, if the kid hits the ground running this season, things might get tricky for Sebastian in the second half. Especially if we see him demonstrating that habit of spinning out after taking out anyone in sight—even someone in a FedEx ad...🕺

How on earth did Sebastian Vettel, Alonso, and Red Bull even end up in this thread!?

ruggedhawk20 said:I guess I'm wondering how Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Red Bull even ended up in this thread—maybe they just drifted in?

Gregory Brown94 said:I guess I'm reading that Gil de Ferran wants to... Maybe some of the bigger names like Fernando Alonso still have that certain something—I guess. i Lewis Hamilton. They'll likely be part of the competition—I guess.

☝