Supercars not rushing towards electrification

Supercars is monitoring developments in electrification but is not in any rush to implement hybrid technology in its race cars.

Consistent with trends in the broader automotive industry, several high-profile categories around the world have already moved or are on a path to electrification.

Formula 1’s present turbo hybrid era is now into its 10th decade, IndyCar will adopt a spec hybrid unit next year, and, in something comparable to Supercars, the British Touring Car Championship went hybrid last year.

Supercars had also intended that the Gen3 vehicles which now populate the race track would be ‘hybrid ready’, although the philosophy was simply that the freedom to adopt the technology would exist should it be deemed desirable.

Ford has now confirmed that the Mustang Mach-E is coming to Australia while the Camaro is expected to be electrified.

Supercars, however, has no firm plans at this time, according to CEO Shane Howard.

On hybridisation, he told selected media, including Speedcafe, “You’re always keeping a watch on that.

“In that space, there’s a lot of change. I’m not sure that there’s a full hundred percent certainty around that technology and where it’s heading and where those trends are going.

“We’re open to it, we’re open to investigating that, but we’re not reactive to it.”

Howard confirmed that hybridisation has not come up in any discussions with General Motors about future planning, even though Supercars had been briefed about the demise of the Camaro in its current form.

The Camaro will be around in the Repco Supercars Championship at least until 2025, notwithstanding Chevrolet’s decision to cease production of the current generation road car early next year.

Read more: why the 2026 Chevrolet Camaro won’t be a Camaro as you know it.

Howard also gave an indication of the life of the Gen3 ruleset which has just debuted in competition.

“When you look at the previous platform, they’ve run up to 10 years, but certainly five years,” he noted.

“But it’s how this platform evolves over time.”

That timeframe is broadly consistent with the Car of the Future era, of which Gen2 was a subset, which preceded Gen3.

It began in 2013 and lasted until the end of 2022, although its life was elongated by one to two years by delays in the Gen3 project.

The third race event of the Gen3 era takes place this weekend with the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint at Wanneroo Raceway.