Cupra E-Racer

Following on from the Volkswagen IDR, I'm happy we can finally show off our second all-electric car. There's a lot to discuss here, so let's get cracking. First some vital statistics;

Weight: 1680kg with the driver
Power: 670hp peak
Peak torque: 975nm at 0rpm
Drivetrain: All-electric RWD with regenerative braking
Weight distribution 40F/60R

To begin with, don't be fooled by the similar appearance this car has to the regular TCR Cupra. Under the skin, this really is quite a different beast. Starting from the front end, we now have an empty engine bay where the internal combustion engine has been omitted. There's nothing there to replace it, just a few radiators and some wiring, as you might expect. Moving to the rear and this is where things really take a departure from the TCR car. Back here it is pure prototype with double wishbone suspension, huge brakes, and most importantly four electric motors arranged in parallel (stacked like a packet of biscuits) around the differential:





The batteries sit down in the floor pan of the car (picture above) keeping the centre of gravity nice and low. Below the batteries sits a huge flat floor with rather large venturi tunnels. Thanks to those, this car is capable of around three times as much downforce as the 2020 Cupra TCR, or around the same amount as a current-generation GT3. It's a very different tool to a TCR.

To cope with increased demands on the tyres, the car sits on bespoke wider, fatter rubber than it's front wheel drive cousin. They're also at the rear than the front, with 280mm and 315mm tread widths respectively. Compounds are pretty similar to what we already have with GT3, GT4 and TCR. They come preheated and give optimal grip at 80 to 90 degrees C.

Now, on to the drivetrain and you may of already found that there are two driving modes; D & S:

D-mode is a simple drive-only mode. You put your foot down, it uses the battery power up, that's all. It doesn't recharge so once it's gone it's gone. It also disconnects the motors when you lift of the accelerator pedal, so deceleration is only by wind resistance, rolling resistance and the brakes.

S-mode is where things get clever. It enables regenerative braking, which basically reverses the poles of the motors as you lift of the throttle or brake. That enables 'engine braking' when you lift off the power, and also charges the batteries when you press the brake pedal. The regeneration is up to 15% efficient, which means that up to 15% of the power available at the current revs is instead sent as charge to be stored in the batteries.

There's more to it though - if you scan through the keymapping options you'll see that we have added the option to set different regen modes. Now this is really important when you consider that the regen happens only at the rear axle, so how much regen is active can really change the balance of the car. It may also be the difference between winning and loosing a race as now power-management becomes an important part of race strategy. At a later date we will also be adding engine map modes, whereby the amount of power and thus energy consumption will become adjustable in-car.

For some more tips on actually driving the cars, see the video below: