Extreme E Championship

Extreme E
Series Information
Official Name	FIA Extreme E Championship
Announced	31 January 2019
Based	London, UK
Inaugural Season	2021
No. Races	0
Supports
Current Season
Drivers Champion	Cristina Gutiérrez Sébastien Loeb
Teams Champion	Team X44
Constructors	Spark Racing Technologies
Manufacturers
Tyres	Continental

The Extreme E Championship, alternatively known as the XE Championship or simply XE, is an off-road racing series set to debut in 2021 as a sister-series to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. Organised by Formula E Holdings and overseen by Alejandro Agag and Gil de Ferran, XE will see teams battle across a variety of locations using electrically powered SUVs, with manufacturers encouraged to build their own powertrains.

Background

FE chassis suppliers Spark Racing Technologies were awarded the contract to supply XE with chassis, with the first public demonstration of the XE car, dubbed the Odyssey 21 staged at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 5 July 2019. The series was also set to be broadcast in a "docu-sport" format with the winner kept secret until the official broadcast, although this plan was partially dropped in May 2019. The series also purchased RMS St. Helena to serve as the series' global headquarters, with the former Royal Mail cargo liner undergoing a major refit ahead of the inaugural 2021 Extreme E Championship.

FE entrants Venturi Automobiles were the first manufacturer to officially announce that they would join XE on the 7 May 2019. Their announcement was followed by two from ABT Sportsline and HWA Racelab, whom made their announcements after the Odyssey 21's maiden public outing at Goodwood in July 2019.

Fox Sports were the first broadcaster to secure a deal to televise the series, with a multi-year contract signed in July 2019 to show XE in the United States.

Teams and drivers

The Extreme E regulations require each team to consist of a female and a male driver who share equal driving duties (with a driver swap in the middle of each race).

In September 2019, Extreme E released a list of drivers who had registered official interest in driving in the series. Teams could select drivers from this list, but they could also sign any other driver. In November, a second group of inductees joined the programme. The first actual driver signing, Sara Price with Chip Ganassi Racing, was announced in June 2020.

Reserve drivers can substitute any driver before the beginning of each subsequent rounds. The series also employs "championship drivers" as reserves and advisors, while guest championship drivers are occasionally present to work with the full-time members. Championship drivers can be hired to permanent seats by teams such as Jutta Kleinschmidt by Abt Cupra in 2021.

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