Tires for Extreme E Series to Feature ContiConnect Tire Management Solution

Hanover, November 30, 2020. Starting in March 2021, the new Extreme E off-road racing series will be taking professional motor racing in electric SUVs to the furthest corners of the planet. The event calendar includes races in the desert of Saudi Arabia, in Senegal, in the rainforest of Brazil and in the glacier region of Patagonia. Not only will the teams need to cope with very different climates; they will also have to master extremely difficult terrain on courses that will challenge the tires in particular. And indeed, the tires have been specially developed for the task by Continental, a Founding Partner in Extreme E.

“The races are not going to be held at standardized racetracks with similar asphalt surfaces,” says Sandra Roslan, Project Manager at Continental, describing the exceptional challenge ahead. “Instead, the teams will be racing in natural settings and over variable and very different surfaces, including sand, gravel, scree, mud and ice.” Then there are the typical situations encountered in racing, like extreme acceleration, heavy braking, high speeds even through tight corners, drifts and even jumps. But the tires will also be stressed by the nature of the cars themselves, also specially developed for this particular series. The SUVs go by the name of ODYSSEY 21 and serve up the electrical equivalent of almost 550 hp, giving them three times the torque of a Formula E Gen 2 racer. At the wheel of each car is a professional racing driver eager to get the absolute maximum out of the vehicle and its tires. “Given this exceptional constellation, we are talking about the biggest challenge that tires have ever had to face in motor sport,” says Sandra Roslan. To enable the drivers to take their tires to the limit throughout the races while maintaining maximum safety for their cars and themselves, the SUVs are equipped with a special tire monitoring system.