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Narrator: 2.3 seconds. That's exactly how long
it takes Tesla's top-of-the-line Model S sedan
to sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour.
But while YouTube is filled with
countless videos of Teslas dominating drag strips
and leaving the fastest street-legal cars in their dust,
these all-electric speed demons have yet to make it
into a professional racing series, until now.
Electric Production Car Series, or EPCS,
is an upcoming zero-emissions
international racing championship
featuring the first official race-ready Teslas.
As the flagship series of electric racing organization
Electric GT, EPCS is planned to feature
up to 20 drivers piloting identical track-optimized
Model S P100Ds.
So what separates these Model S race cars from those
you can pick up at your nearest Tesla showroom?
First, the company takes a production model
and strips out all of the interior fittings
that would be considered excess.
This is replaced with safety equipment
that includes a full race harness and roll cage.
Much of the body work is also removed
and replaced with high-grade carbon-fiber body panels.
The production car's wheels and tires
are scrapped for new race slicks and rims.
Aerodynamic features are added
that include a large rear wing,
and the suspension is strengthened heavily.
- Electric GT came about essentially
four years ago
when we saw that electric racing
was starting with Formula E.
I remember going to the Monaco race
and being impressed with what they were doing
and thinking, "Well, this needs to happen more."
What is Electric Production Car Series?
So that is the formal or official name
that has been given by the FIA
to our championship.
Narrator: The FIA, or
International Automobile Federation,
is the governing body over a number of
global motorsport events.
When it comes to rules and safety regulations
in auto racing, what they say goes.
- This is a FIA-approved international series,
so we can race in multiple countries
using full FIA safety specialists,
you know, their marshals and such,
and also we can attract FIA-licensed drivers,
FIA-sanctioned teams, and essentially
put on a show that is proper motorsport.
We do aim to go to the best circuits that are available,
so Silverstone, Paul Ricard, that kind of thing.
Now, I have thoroughly recognized
that Tesla is not perfect and that it has
thermal-management issues, above all,
but it's got pretty good performance,
as in the obviously out-of-the-blocks acceleration
that's certainly at or even above a Formula-1-car level.
Top speed is very good, and we can buy them today.
Narrator: However, Electric GT wants to make it clear
that in the future, they do not plan
to limit their racing series
to Tesla cars only.
- Any high-performance electric car,
we welcome in our series.
It would be a pleasure
to welcome a Porsche Taycan on the circuit.
I have no reason to believe that it would be
in any way an inferior car.
Narrator: However, the road to an all-electric
racing league hasn't been as smooth
as Electric GT had hoped.
The series was originally expected
to begin back in 2017, but the company ran into
a number of major delays,
including difficulties securing a lead investor.
Still, the company claims their problems may soon
be solved and EPSC's inaugural season
could almost be here.
- The fundamental fact, and there's no surprises of course,
you need to have the capital to launch an event
of this caliber.
You get everything together, and you need to find
the right investor.
The right investor, apart from having the right money,
needs to be appreciative of what's going on.
So here for instance, you need to find an investor
who understands that the electric future
is definite and is worthwhile,
that renewable energy is a fantastic,
positive future for us all,
and someone who also appreciates the value of motorsport.
But I'm pleased to say we have run into a few investors
who do place a lot of value in these vectors,
so I'm very enthusiastic that we will find that investor
and that we will launch in the near future.