race is hearing the engine roar, the rumble of each car’s approach and the zip of it whizzing past at more than 150 mph.
Ragan could hear squealing tires. He could smell the brakes. In gasoline-powered cars, the engine’s sound and smell and heat from the exhaust overpower everything else. But after hundreds of laps, this time Ragan’s ears weren’t ringing. It was really wild, he said. “We’re committed to electric vehicles,” Warren said. “Racing gives a great platform to discuss a lot of those concepts and educate fans. It’s a laboratory for us to try some new technologies and learn as we educate.”Burning gas pollutes the air and produces carbon dioxide, which warms the atmosphere and leads to more extreme weather. Burning one gallon produces about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
NASCAR is not the first motorsports organization to get into electric car racing. Formula E is an all-electric racing series that started a decade ago. But its fan base is far smaller than NASCAR's. That's why the number 35 appears on the black, white and red car, along with ABB. The auto body is made from plant-based materials, a flax-based composite by the Swiss company Bcomp, rather than the typical carbon fiber composite.