This is not your child’s collapsible scooter. It’s not the rentable Bird or Lime scooter either (and unlike those, it’s being piloted by those who actually have training). The Electric Scooter Championship (eSC) is the world’s first international electric race scooter series and will feature high-speed scooters zooming around courses in major cities.
It’ s true. While many sports organizations are simply trying to get back on the field, the court or the ice, a group of Formula One and Formula E drivers plans to rev up a brand-new championship in 2021.
The Electric Scooter Championship (eSC) is the world’s first international electric race scooter series and will feature specially developed competitions among riders piloting high-speed electric scooters.
According to a press release, the eSC is intended to “make international motorsport more accessible, affordable and sustainable than ever before” by promoting “the cost, convenience and sustainability benefits of micromobility within the rapidly changing electric mobility landscape.”
Check out the launch video that Forbes.com calls “Tron meets PlayStation.”
The event will go by the hipper moniker eSkootr Championship™, and it was founded by a group led by motorsport entrepreneur CEO Hrag Sarkissian and COO Khalil Beschir, a Formula 1 broadcaster and former A1 GP racing driver. Also involved are the Formula E racer and UN Ambassador Lucas di Grassi and former F1 driver Alex Wurz.
“There are, unfortunately, few other details about the series, like how it’s being funded or who the competitors will be,” notes TheVerge.com. “All the organizers say is that the ‘category’s affordability removes the high barrier to entry seen in most other motorsport series, and its versatility means the series can recruit from a truly diverse cross-section of competitors – including racing drivers, cyclists, skaters, snowboarders, motorcyclists and even esports racers.’”
The website goes on to dissect what the eSkootr Championship means to the world of motorsports:
Whoever does compete will be putting themselves in a remarkably risky position, though, as the scooters are allegedly going to be capable of outrageous top speeds of around 100 kilometers per hour (about 62 miles per hour). They will feature large platforms, fat tires and full suspensions in order to handle going that fast — at least, according to the launch video. But those kinds of speeds carry great risk even with a purpose-built vehicle and top-tier protective gear. As for where the scooters will come from, organizers say they have ‘already partnered with a recogni[z]ed high-technology provider’ to build them and will ‘reveal the prototype later this year,’ though they don’t name the company.
The mission behind the series tracks very closely to that of Formula E, the all-electric racing series that launched in 2014. Formula E is not just about pushing the boundaries of electric vehicle performance. Almost all of its races are run on temporary street circuits in some of the world’s biggest cities, with the goal of promoting clean energy technology in the places where it’s most needed.
The same goes for eSkootr.
“The concept of a new series, operating on a global scale with professional participants, yet running with a carbon-zero footprint ... is a fascinating glimpse toward a more accessible and sustainable way to go racing,” di Grassi told Reuters.
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