NASCAR and ABB in the U.S. have announced the ABB NASCAR Electrification Innovation Partnership and revealed a new battery EV prototype at the 2024 NASCAR Chicago Street Race held over the weekend. ABB is a founding partner of NASCAR IMPACT, a broader umbrella platform launched to shepherd sustainability, community engagement, and other social initiatives for the racing series.

“There could not be a more optimal moment in time to announce our first IMPACT partner than in tandem with the debut of our prototype electric vehicle at the Chicago Street Race,” said Eric Nyquist, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief IMPACT Officer. “ABB is an industry leader and will help in efforts to decarbonize our operations as we pursue achieving net-zero operating emissions over the next decade.”

While NASCAR is still committed to the role of the internal combustion engine in racing, it also has goals to decarbonize its operations and reduce its carbon footprint to zero across its core operations by 2035 through electrification and innovative solutions. As part of the partnership, ABB in the U.S. will also help NASCAR achieve public sustainability targets around electrification and electric vehicle charging.

“ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, and we help customers globally to optimize, electrify, and decarbonize their operations,” said Ralph Donati, ABB Executive Vice President. “The objective of the collaboration between NASCAR, ABB in the United States, and the NASCAR industry is to push the boundaries of electrification technology, from EV racing to long-haul transportation to facility operations.”

The EV prototype is the latest innovation from the NASCAR Research and Development Center team, which recently completed the largest overhaul of its flagship Cup Series car in its 75-year history. The “Next Gen” car, which debuted in 2022, attempted to put the “stock” back in “stock car,” modernizing most of the vehicle’s components. It also marked NASCAR’s rededication to product relevance in ensuring its race cars match production cars on the street as much as possible.

At the core of the IMPACT program, NASCAR has committed to sustainable operations across its entire business, moving operations from scope 1 (fuel burned) to scope 2 (electric) being a critical element of its sustainability strategy. In addition to the long-term operating emissions goal, NASCAR’s annual carbon measurement informed near-term sustainability priorities, including sourcing 100% renewable electricity at owned racetracks and facilities by 2028, expanded waste diversion efforts, and on-site EV charging stations.

This partnership with NASCAR continues ABB’s commitment to driving progress in clean mobility, amplified by the appeal of motorsport. At a global level, ABB has been the title partner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship since 2018. The world’s first all-electric, single-seater race series is a testbed for innovative technologies that will support the race for the energy transition and ultimately help create a more sustainable future.

The NASCAR EV prototype was developed in collaboration with Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota OEM partners and was built by the NASCAR engineers responsible for the Next Gen car and the Garage 56 entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The track-tested all-wheel-drive stock car prototype has a generic crossover utility vehicle body shape. It shares many similarities with both the Next Gen and Garage 56 cars, with the body sitting on a modified Next Gen chassis, and the steering, suspension, brakes, and wheels are derived from the NASCAR Cup Series car.

The prototype racecar has a “tunable powertrain” that can produce a peak of 1000 kW using three UHP six-phase motors—one in front, two in the rear—from engineering service company STARD supplying power directly to all four specially designed Goodyear Racing Eagle tires. A 78-kW·h liquid-cooled battery is backed up by regenerative braking to convert kinetic into battery energy, making the car most suitable for road courses and short oval tracks.

The prototype is the first major U.S. motorsports project to incorporate flax-based composites developed by Swiss lightweighting specialist Bcomp.

“This collaboration is Bcomp’s first major U.S. motorsport project, and we are excited to demonstrate together with the NASCAR IMPACT team how racing can pave the way for sustainable innovations, enabling benefits for wider society further down the road,” said Johann Wacht, Key Account Manager Automotive & Motorsports at Bcomp.

The high-performance bodywork uses Bcomp’s ampliTex technical fabrics in conjunction with powerRibs, which were first inspired by the vein structure of leaves to harness the natural advantages of more sustainable flax fiber material.

“Integrating sustainable innovations into the design process helps set the standard for sustainability across our industry and supports forward progress towards the company’s sustainability goals and targets,” said Brandon Thomas, Vice President of Vehicle Design, for NASCAR.

Bcomp’s composites offer a sustainable alternative to traditional carbon fiber, reducing CO2 emissions by up to 85% at similar stiffness, and improve safety in motorsports thanks to a breaking behavior without sharp shattering, a safety aspect that is especially relevant in racing.

Flax is an indigenous plant that requires very little water and nutrients to grow. It also acts as a rotational crop, and neither cultivation nor processing of the flax plants requires any chemicals that could contaminate groundwater. After harvesting, the entire flax plant can be used for feed and to make oil, and its fibers are especially used for home textiles and clothing. The long fiber from the flax plant possesses good mechanical and damping properties vs. density, making it suitable as a natural fiber reinforcement.