LAS VEGAS — A new kind of race car made its debut Monday with cartoonishly loud revving, the smell of burning rubber, and not a trace of exhaust.
That’s because the new FIA Formula E Championship car is all electric. The championship is the first series exclusively for electric cars.
Organizers gave racing aficionados their first glimpse of the car in action at a makeshift racetrack behind the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Strip.
A setting sun illuminated the towering casino’s gold-tinted windows as Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi showed off the capabilities of the Spark-Renault SRT—01E, pulling off tight turns, breathtaking accelerations and sudden stops.
The car, designed by Spark Racing Technologies, can reach more than 150 mph.
“We are a championship on a mission, and the mission is to have more electric cars on the streets all around the world,” said Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag.
The unveiling of the high-tech car was timed to coincide with the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which began in Las Vegas on Monday.