Extreme E off-road EV race partners with EY on sustainability
The Extreme E off-road electric vehicle race series aims to educate on climate change through entertainment, and have partnered with professional services firm EY to help fulfill their mission.
While all eyes have been on this month’s Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne and up-and-coming Australian driver Oscar Piastri, another Aussie motorsports sensation – Molly Taylor – was quietly sitting atop the Extreme E championship table after claiming the first race of the series in Saudi Arabia.
For those unfamiliar, Extreme E is an off-road motor racing tournament using electric SUVs, with Ernst & Young recently named official sustainability partner.
“We are thrilled to have EY as our Official Sustainability Partner for 2023,” said Extreme X founder Alejandro Agag, a former European politician who at one time operated a strategy consultancy in London before switching to motorsport. “Their continued commitment to sustainability aligns perfectly with our mission to create a better planet through sport. We look forward to continuing to work closely with EY to promote sustainability in motorsport and beyond.”
Kicking off in 2021 – with Taylor claiming the inaugural championship alongside Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson for the Nico Rosberg X Racing team – Extreme E was established to highlight remote environments under threat from issues related to climate change and encourage positive action, noting that almost one third of the planet’s carbon emissions are derived from transport. The goal is to demonstrate the high-performance potential of all-electric vehicles.
Green from within
Naturally, Extreme E is also committed to maintaining its own net-zero footprint, and has brought on board professional services firm Ernst & Young to help it in its ‘race without a trace’ mission and to create a positive lasting legacy.
Now an official sustainability partner, EY has in fact collaborated with Extreme E from the beginning, helping to establish the initial frameworks and providing pre- and post-race impact assessments to support future strategic planning.
The two organisations will now extend their collaboration in a range of areas to further promote Extreme E’s ‘five pillars’ (E-mobility, Equality, Environment, Energy and Entertainment), including through scientific presentations and thought leadership panels held at each of the selected racing locations. The talks and panels aim to expand awareness around e-mobility, the circular economy, and the actions needed to tackle the local effects of climate change.
“The legacy programs are integral to Extreme E’s success by providing long-term social or environmental support to each race location,” says Melbourne-based EY climate & sustainability director Luke Kitchen. “This will allow Extreme E to calculate the non-financial impacts of its activities beyond the race itself. These impacts can range from improving biodiversity to developing educational facilities that will exist many years beyond the race schedule.”
The next round of the Extreme E series is set to take place in Dumfries and Galloway of Scotland (with the championship’s freight and infrastructure arriving aboard the environmentally remodeled vessel St. Helena), where the drivers will compete along a former opencast coal mine slated to become a hydropower plant and wind farm.
Taylor, the first ever female to win the Australian Rally Championship, will be looking to back up her round one performance.
