Hayden Paddon plans world’s first EV rally car
Kiwi rally ace Hayden Paddon aims to have Hyundai-based electric rally cars built in Cromwell and start trialling a prototype from about April 2020 at suitable New Zealand events.
He expects to have a second prototype developed to compete in the 2021 New Zealand Rally’s full programme.
Alternative Energy Motorsport Development (AEMD) has been established as a division of his Paddon Rallysport Group to build the EV racer.
It’s based on the Hyundai Kona EV, but will be completely unlike the road version, Paddon says.
The rally EV requires all-wheel drive and to run at peak power levels for short events like hill climbs, also to be able to provide suitable torque vectoring for gravel and low grip situations.
Paddon, aged 32, says they’re rebuilding the Kona EV to have the required componentry, including more batteries to provide about 600kW of power (compared with the road version’s 64kW/h battery).
A rally car based on the Kona EV will be trialled by Paddon Rallysport next year
While the Kona’s road range on single charge is near 500km, Paddon says distance varies by event so the focus is more on that, so long as the EV rally car can last a full day of hard driving without perhaps needing a fast recharge.
Paddon says having YES Power as its official power company is key for the project with race car charging solutions yet to be sorted.
He’s also working with the University of Canterbury Engineering Facility’s Motorsport project team (rated one of the world’s best in the Formula student international electric racing programme) on mainly aerodynamics.
Describing the planned EV rally car as “like no other”, Paddon says it will make a noise to warn of its approach. EVs are renowned for being quiet, many now coming with a pedestrian warning noise at low speeds. But this will be a high-speed alert, although just what sound the EV rally car will make hasn’t been determined. “It won’t sound like a conventional race car though,” Paddon says when asked if it might be like a rowdy V8.
He believes motorsport still needs to have an element of sound, even for safety.
Paddon is working with Motorsport New Zealand on guidelines for EV safety in motorsport.
The first year will be spent sorting performance, technical and reliability issues.
So how did Paddon develop the idea of an EV rally car?
It came about after a discussion with a friend in 2017 who suggested EV racing offered a new approach to commercial investment. Paddon recalls his reaction was probably similar to many others in motorsport when first hearing about electric cars.
But after thinking about it more he could see how going to EVs would stack up and started to talk about it with possible commercial partners.
That led to a technical partnership with Stohl Advanced Research and Development (STARD) in Austria and working with the University of Canterbury, Hyundai New Zealand, YES Power and others with more to come on board.
Callaghan Innovation chipped in with funding and it was all go.
Paddon believes Kiwi ingenuity and New Zealand’s environment (including renewable energy) make it the perfect place to try something like this.
He believes motorsport has always been at the cutting edge in automotive technology.
Paddon points to the growth of EVs in motorsport, such as the ABB FIA Formula E
championship featuring Kiwi driver Mitch Evans and brother Simon in the support series Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, the success of EVs in hillclimbs like Pike’s Peak (Seb Frances of Petone is building an EV hillclimb car), and a new Extreme E off-road series.
“But there are no EVs in rally yet,” he adds.
Paddon believes motorsport fans will eventually adjust.
“Ultimately, the EV rally cars will be impressive and create a genuine, competitive and new form of EV motorsport. Everything will be different to what we think of now.”
He sees EV motorsports opening doors to people who don’t watch it now.
It’s also sending the right message for the environment and the growing global concern about emissions and climate change.
Paddon is excited by the challenge of developing a world-first EV rally car and says there are many unknowns to overcome.
Meanwhile, he took a brief break from driving to promote his autobiography, Driven: My Story, published on August 20, about the challenges he went through in life to get where he is, and growing up in Geraldine.
He’s never considered anything other than motor racing and encourages people with a passion for something to do it as best they can.
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