Paddon podiums on first EV rally car tarmac event

Hayden Paddon drove his Hyundai Kona EV to third overall in the Coronet Peak Hill Climb on November 27.

“All-in-all I’m very happy with how the car performed,” Paddon says of his first tarmac outing in the EV, clocking the third fastest time of 1.25.68 minutes behind winner Mark Higgins on 1.24.42 and runner-up Stefan Rust on 1.24.92.

Paddon was first in the new “E” class and says he got plenty of good data from the event, although only one gear out of the two in the car was working properly and they had a small power loss too.

Thanking Paddon for attending, organiser Queenstown Car Club’s Lauren Harris says “the amount of people crowded around to watch you was incredible”.

The EV rally car’s sound generator wasn’t used for the Coronet Peak event as it’s still under development.

COVID restrictions permitting, Paddon expects to be running the EV in more rally events soon.

He aims to return to the Repco Battle of Jacks Point near Clevedon in Auckland on February 5 and 6 to again demonstrate the EV rally car after its first public showing there in November 2020.

Paddon was a favourite that year in his Hyundai i20 AP4++ and set a record time before crashing out, Shane van Gisbergen going on to win and expected to defend his crown in 2022.