New Opel Corsa-e To Become The World’s First Electric Rally Car

Following a teaser released yesterday, Opel has revealed the Corsa-e Rally, the world’s first electric rally car, set to debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show.

Based on the production Corsa-e, Opel’s new electric rally car will participate in the 2020 ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup as a replacement for the existing Adam R2. The new Opel Corsa-e Rally comes with an electric motor that produces 134hp (136PS) and 191lb-ft (260Nm) of torque, and a 50kWh battery pack, the same one that’s powering the road version of the electric supermini.

There’s also a Torsen limited-slip differential among other rally-specific conversions.

Also Read: New Opel Corsa Unveiled In Pure Electric Form With 134 HP And 330 Km Range

That’s more than enough for the ADAC Opel Rally Cup, which has been for the past few years an entry ticket to young drivers from 18 countries. The regular Opel Corsa-e can hit 62mph (100km/h) from a standstill in 8.1 seconds.

“The Corsa-e is the electric car for everyone – fully suited to everyday use and absolutely affordable, attributes that equally apply to motor sport. The new Corsa is also fun to drive and particularly dynamic. Using the production car as the basis, we are the first carmaker in the world to have developed an electric rally car” said Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller.

The new rally series is expected to launch in the summer of 2020, with the first rounds taking place at specific races of the German Rally Championship and other selected events. Opel and ADAC plan at least ten qualifying rounds through 2021, which will form a so-called ‘Super Season’.

Opel plans to build 15 examples of the new Corsa-e Rally for the 2020/2021 ADAC e-Rally Cup, with pricing expected to be under the 50,000-euro mark ($55k in current exchange rates).