As a street car- Hey thats a cool wagon. As a racecar- 🤮
Photography Courtesy Chevrolet
The most common type of vehicle sold today? SUVs. The type of propulsion pushed by many automakers today? EVs. And the form of racing with so many fans today? NASCAR. These three things arguably led to the Chevrolet Blazer EV.R–and we're pondering if an IMSA version could follow.
The Blazer remains a prototype, with Chevrolet assuring folks that it plans to run a V8 in NASCAR for “years to come”–despite not having a new vehicle eligible for competition in the NASCAR Cup or Xfinity series. In those series, Chevrolet currently runs an unbadged Camaro, a model that ended its run last year.
“While we will continue to race our proven and winning V8 technology in NASCAR for years to come, we continually look for ways to improve the combination of power, durability, and efficiency to transfer learnings from the racetrack to the showroom, especially as we bolster Chevy’s consumer EV lineup,” Eric Warren, executive director of global motorsports competition for General Motors, said in a press release.
No doubt the Blazer EV.R offers performance, with 1300 horses from three six-phase electric motors. While the body loosely resembles a Blazer, it is built on a typical NASCAR chassis with typical suspension componentry. One interesting thing, though: This Blazer has programmable all-wheel drive, while NASCAR uses rear-wheel drive.
“This program was a great opportunity with NASCAR to design a new crossover utility vehicle body and bring forward design elements from our Blazer EV SS,” said Phil Zak, executive director, Chevrolet Global Design. “The EV.R prototype offers lower and wider proportions and was designed with aerodynamics and performance in mind.”
Justin Allgaier, the 2024 Xfinity series champ, recently drove the Blazer EV.R at Carolina Motorsports Park.
“There are so many things you don’t think about until you’re in the car actually testing it,” Allgaier said. “I’m used to knowing my speed through gearing and listening to engine revs, so I had to totally change how I judge corner entry speed. With this platform we’re learning how to strategically adjust regenerative braking, which has a big impact on braking sections and cornering balance.”
Justin Allgaier.
Will we ever see a Blazer EV.R in a competitive event? Maybe? It’s hard, though, to ignore the market trending to crossover SUVs (heck, we’re already there) with EV propulsion. The Ford Mustang Mach-E and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N have made serious pushes to be adopted by performance enthusiasts. Is it just a matter of time until a big chunk of them do? And, closer to our world, could we eventually see cars like this competing in road racing?
As a street car- Hey thats a cool wagon. As a racecar- 🤮
It's certainly a different shape than I'm used to for a race car, but I think I like it.
Personally, I find the rear wing to be an interesting addition. If you remember, NASCAR tried a wing and fans panned it, preferring the spoiler. I guess with a prototype you can push boundaries.
I like the entire thing. I'd drive the E36 M3 outta that.
Could be a good Pikes Peak car.
Let's assume they derate the motors to 500kW (~670hp), and use the HummerEV's battery pack (so 200kWh)... that still means 24mins of racing with no regen (so, maybe 30mins with regen?)... and that's with a pack that apparently weighs 2800#s by itself.
I look forward to EV's making inroads in motorsports; but I think the above maths indicates that time-attack is going to be the main place we see EV's "racing".
I reckon short-track might be a other option, but that would take a lot of risk and design work... which I don't see being popular.
And, don't forget SummitPoint is still banning Hybrids/EVs... so there's cost/training barriers on the facilities side to overcome as well.
Dear gods, please give me that in street car form. 4cyl rwd would be fine.
If it was de-badged, I would have guessed it was a Hyundai.
In July 2024, NASCAR revealed their EV racer prototype with the help of ABB with a "generic CUV body":
2 weeks ago, Ford revealed their Mach E NASCAR prototype:
Now, Chevy gives us this:
All of them are 3 motor powertrains that use a heavy dose of the current Cup car chassis, and if I'm speculating, probably very similar batteries too. NASCAR's site for their generic EV prototype even includes a photo with Ford, GM, and Toyota EV CUVs:
I don't know if we'll get a BZ4X NASCAR prototype or not, but it seems like they've put some thought and organization into this for quite awhile now. Seems very likely to me that they're definitely considering something organized and sanctioned with this format.
STM317 said:In July 2024, NASCAR revealed their EV racer prototype with the help of ABB with a "generic CUV body":
2 weeks ago, Ford revealed their Mach E NASCAR prototype:
Now, Chevy gives us this:
All of them are 3 motor powertrains that use a heavy dose of the current Cup car chassis, and if I'm speculating, probably very similar batteries too. NASCAR's site for their generic EV prototype even includes a photo with Ford, GM, and Toyota EV CUVs:
I don't know if we'll get a BZ4X NASCAR prototype or not, but it seems like they've put some thought and organization into this for quite awhile now. Seems very likely to me that they're definitely considering something organized and sanctioned with this format.
There's definitely something being organized, seeing Ford and Chevy participation. I'd be curious to see if Toyota hops aboard since they've been very cool to EVs.
Another sign something is up? When I spoke with NASCAR officials at PRI, they were very reluctant to talk about the EV they displayed there. More to come.
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