• Sustainability of great importance in world’s first electric one-make rally cup
• Rally cars “fill up” with “green” electricity from public grid
• Participants live ecological responsibility in many areas
• Sustainability prize for Cup concept and partner companies

Now in its fourth season, the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” has established itself in the European rally landscape. A diverse field of participants with young teams from eight nations, including at least three all-female crews, delivers high class sport on challenging special stages in Germany, Austria, France, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

The ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup scores not only with its high sporting ambition and a convincing driver development concept (the Cup winner advances to the European Junior Rally Championship with Opel the following year) but also with exemplary sustainability. Winning the 2023 Sustainability Award, awarded by the German Motorsport Association (DMSB), officially underlines the overall integrity of the concept.

The components adopted unchanged from the production version of the Opel Corsa Rally Electric, such as the 100 kW (136 hp) electric motor, inverter and battery, have fully met the high expectations in terms of durability. “The cars are competing in their fourth season in 2024 without us having had a single problem with any of the batteries,” says Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott. “On the contrary, our development car has now clocked up almost 15,000 brutal rally kilometres. We recently tested the battery in the laboratory, where it still had a residual capacity of 96 per cent. This shows that we did not overpromise to the teams when we committed to a battery life of at least 20,000 competition kilometres. The electric motors also run perfectly – and exclusively under tough rally conditions.”

Unique charging infrastructure uses only regenerative eco-electricity

The mobile charging infrastructure for the Cup, which is unique in the world, has also proven itself a success. Eco-electricity with a voltage of between 14,000 and 24,000 volts is taken from the access points frequently found in European countries and converted into 1,000 volts DC (direct current) in a dedicated transformer. From this transformer, the electricity is fed into the “charging cubes”, one of which is available to each team. The Opel Corsa Rally Electric is charged at these charging cubes with up to 100 kilowatts of power during regular service work. The batteries are fully charged in less than 25 minutes and the rally cars are ready for the next special stage. The electric rally machines thus get their “green” electricity directly from the public grid.

The sustainable overall concept of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup also includes the conscious use of natural resources and the ecological responsibility of all involved. The cleanliness of the service park, which also includes the separation of waste, is also very important to the teams. All participants use a drinking bottle made of recyclable plastic, which they can fill up from a water dispenser. In addition, only deposit bottles are used in the Cup hospitality.

Sustainability prize for ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup and partner companies

The choice of partner for the teamwear also fits in with these ecologically sensible measures. The German company VAUDE not only produces high-quality and good-looking clothing, the manufacturer was also recently awarded the “German Sustainability Prize 2024”. The jury recognized VAUDE’s environmentally friendly, energy-efficient production. Their “Rethink” products consist of 95 per cent recyclable mono-materials, which enables an almost closed textile cycle. Nearly all VAUDE products bear the German “Green Dot” (“Grüner Punkt”), a state seal for socially and ecologically sustainably produced textiles.

“Sustainability is often used as a buzzword for marketing campaigns,” says Schrott. “Here in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, we not only promote sustainability, we also live it. Opel has been demonstrating since 2021 that electric rallying works – not just in terms of performance and sporting aspects but also concerning ecological responsibility.”