Global electrical/electronics giant ABB is a company we’ve often covered in these pages. NASCAR, the epitome of petroleum-powered racing, is not. But these two very different organizations have been working together for some time now with the goal of advancing the energy transition.

Your correspondent is in Daytona Beach for NASCAR’s flagship event of the year, the Daytona 500. This year’s 500 is a historic e-vent for several reasons: an electric Chevy Blazer will be the first EV to serve as a pace car; NASCAR has announced the planned deployment of 30 Level 2 EV chargers at Daytona International Speedway; and ABB and NASCAR are putting a prototype of an electric race car through its paces on a special drift track.

We’ll be writing more about all three of those topics soon. But for now, we’re going to let Chris Shigas, ABB’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, explain why this seemingly unlikely partnership makes perfect sense. 

Images courtesy of ABB.

The ABB/NASCAR partnership has already been a blockbuster marketing success—in the six months since the companies first unveiled the electric racer, ABB has gotten over 3 billion media views. But much more is in store. Mr. Shigas told me that he’s passionate about the energy transition, and that this partnership is poised to give it a big push.

“The US is at an inflection point in how we use energy—I firmly believe that,” Shigas told me in Daytona. “The energy transition, we are in it now. But here’s the thing—it’s not just for some people, it’s for everyone. I firmly believe that we cannot make progress when we’re only talking to half our country. NASCAR is bringing us to another part of America. There are some difficult conversations, but I welcome the diversity of opinions because it’s only going to make us stronger.

“We have to have better conversations about energy. Why do energy companies make the decisions they make? Why do automakers make the decisions they make?”

So, when is this cool new car going to hit the track as part of a new electric racing series? Well, we asked (several times), but the ABB staff isn’t talking about a timeline just yet, and the NASCAR folks made it clear to us that gasoline-based racing is here to stay. However, NASCAR does have big plans to reduce emissions from its off-track operations—in fact, its Impact plan has set a goal of reaching zero emissions by 2035. Were you wondering why the ABB/NASCAR electric race car is number 35?

“NASCAR owns about 12 speedways across the United States,” says Shigas. “We will go track by track looking at what we can do on EV charging—will we bring EV charging inside the track [for employees and race attendees to use]?”

“The big picture is not planned out,” Shigas told me. “Are we going to go electric racing? Is there going to be a series? That’s what we’re exploring. But what I can say is that the automakers clearly want to show off their EV lineups and sell EVs, and NASCAR’s a great platform for that. We’re scratching the surface on what this opportunity is.”

The electric race car will also be used as a platform to promote STEM education—a sort of rolling ambassador to get young folks interested in energy and transportation. “At ABB, we need electrical engineers, electrical contractors, mechanical engineers, and if they start thinking about this by high school, it’s almost too late. It’s in middle school that we need to get people to start thinking about STEM and energy.”

Source: ABB