The CUPRA e-Racer, the world’s first all-electric touring car, has won the prestigious German Design Council’s Automotive Brand Contest 2018 in the Concepts category.
The Automotive Brand Contest is an international design competition for automotive brands and the high-profile award honours the best automotive brand and design achievements in the industry.
The eminent award is judged by a panel of experts with backgrounds in the media, design and communications along with those from universities and academies.
“We are delighted to receive this design award, the first for the CUPRA brand.” said Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, Director of Design at CUPRA/SEAT. “It recognises the hard work and dedication of everyone at CUPRA, and the entire team can be extremely proud of the recognition.”
Performance, aerodynamics and design
The design of the CUPRA e-Racer is fully projected towards efficiency and speed. Its beauty comes through its primary function: winning on the track.
The CUPRA e-Racer has great proportions. Low, wide, with the wheels positioned in the right place. And with a long wheel base in order to locate the batteries.
The Front is designed in order to minimize the drag. Air curtains have been placed above the logo CUPRA but also on both sides of the bumper.
The side carbon fibre panels attached to the front doors assume that the flow along the body side is as fluid as possible.
A rear strong wheel arch houses the wide track at the back, emphasizes the visual power of a new wheel drive vehicle and prepares the flow to be cut at the very end of the car.
Shape and Function is a must in a racing car. It is Performance and emotions. The big picture is important but also details count. The wheel trims have been designed so they evacuate the heat of the breaks, but also to respect the flow on the side of the car.
The future of performance
The 100% electric CUPRA e-Racer made its world debut at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. The high-performance racing car is based on a petrol-powered Cup Racer, but underlines the advantages of a pure electric powertrain.
CUPRA e-Racer is the brand’s first step towards its ambition to reinvent racing. Not only the car is cleaner and more environmentally friendly, but performance is even more impressive than a traditional racing car.
Powered by four single gear electric motors and a liquid cooled 65kWh battery pack, the e-Racer produces peak power of 500kW and 960Nm of torque. That means the all-electric touring car can reach 100km/h from a standing start in just 3.2 seconds, and 200km/h in only 8.2 seconds.
The CUPRA e-Racer has been touring specially selected events to showcase the car and its technology, and, from 2020 it’s anticipated that the E-TCR, a championship designed specifically for electric touring cars, will take place.
The format, race duration and simply the way of experiencing these racers for drivers, teams and fans will highlight how different pure electric racing competitions are, emphasising the dynamics, intensity and excitement the technology can produce.
