Hyundai’s first electric vehicle racer, the Veloster N ETCR, has debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Designed and built at Hyundai Motorsport’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany, the electric racer is eligible to compete in the newly-founded ETCR series which will kick off in 2020.
Based on the road-going Veloster N, the Veloster N ETCR is radically different from an engineering point of view as it features four mid-mounted electric motors and rear-wheel-drive — two firsts for a Hyundai Motorsport project.
Hyundai started design work on the Veloster N ETCR in November 2018 and the first shakedown of the prototype was completed in August 2019. A full testing program will begin later this month with the help of Hyundai Motorsport’s trained and experienced engineers. The goal is to build two Veloster N ETCR cars for the first ETCR season.
Also read: Seat’s Cupra e-Racer Launches A New Era Of Electric Touring-Car Racing
According to the Korean carmaker, development of the ETCR project “mirrors Hyundai’s wider strategy for development of electric road cars, and further underscores Hyundai Motorsport’s high-performance capabilities.” The vehicle also benefits from the company’s expertise in touring car racing, following the success of the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR packages.
Hyundai did not reveal much about the specs of the Veloster N ETCR but did mention it packs a 65-kWh battery and has a weight of 1,700 kg (3,748 lbs). Since it will compete against the likes of the Cupra e-Racer, expect a similar output of around 700 hp and a 0-100 km/h time of just over 3 seconds.
The Veloster N ETCR project will be integrated alongside Hyundai’s ongoing commitments as a manufacturer within the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), as well as its Customer Racing efforts with the i20 R5, i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR. More importantly, all lessons learned from racing the Veloster N ETCR will be shared with Hyundai’s global R&D facility in Namyang, South Korea to be used in developing production cars.
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