Battle of Technologies: EV and ICE Power Coexist in FIA World Rallycross

• In the FIA World Rallycross series, EV and combustion engines race side by side in a "Battle of Technologies."

• A major fire mid-2023 destroyed a couple of electric vehicles and had an influence in WRX’s strategy to go away from an all-EV class format for 2024.

• The FIA has equivalence of technology formulas to ensure close competition between EVs and ICEs.

The FIA’s World Rallycross Championship is in its first campaign of a new era—one it hopes can provide the foundation for multiple manufacturers.

In 2022, the championship shifted its premier division to electric vehicles, but for 2024 it's EV and combustion engines—all sustainably fueled—racing side by side and kick-starting the "Battle of Technologies."

While different championships wrestle with engine regulations, amid manufacturers evaluating and striving to predict the developing global automotive landscape, WRX has pitched EVs against ICEs on equal terms.

“If we look at today’s discussions, where do we go to, is it EV, is it ICE?” says WRX promoter Arne Dirks. “I think in Asia it’s very clear their focus is very much on EV, I think in Europe we see a little bit of a shift that maybe ICEs should also be there.

“So hopefully we as a championship are the front-runners which showcases both technologies that can work for the future, as we combine EVs with ICEs with sustainable fuel; the races are good, and we can show everyone out there that both technologies work, and are also really great when it comes to racing.”

A major fire mid-2023 that destroyed a couple of electric vehicles had an influence in WRX’s strategy to 2024, which has featured a slightly truncated season, but the revised technological approach has been warmly received.

“So far we’ve seen it really works, and you never know what happens and every track is different, so the overall lap times are very similar,” Dirks says. “You have some parts of the track are more beneficial for an ICE car and others for an EV car. Since we’ve introduced this the races are more exciting than when we were just running on an EV or just an ICE.”

The main protagonists in WRX are Kristoffersson Motorsport’s ICE Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX and the EV Peugeot 208 RX1e machines fielded by Hansen Motorsport.

The teams have split the pair of victories on offer at each of the most recent events at Mette, in Belgium, and in the mountainous Montalegre province of rural Portugal. Reigning six-time champion Johan Kristoffersson holds a 46-point buffer over Kevin Hansen with a doubleheader round remaining in China in October.

“The benefit we have on the electric side is we have more power, about 100hp than the ICE cars, and the benefit they have is they have about 160kg less to carry,” says Kenneth Hansen, the Swedish rallycross legend who runs the eponymous team for which sons Kevin and Timmy race. “That’s making it quite interesting in the races, there’s differences, but that’s what it is. The electric cars will be first in the first corner but during the handling of the lap it will be faster for the ICE cars.”

Those differences enhance the excitement of the competition, as the different cars overlap through the short heats and races, which often last for only a few minutes, culminating in a six-car final. That leads to vital strategic decisions, such as when to take the mandatory joker lap, while from a broadcast perspective the frantic bursts of action are ideal for today’s congested landscape.

WRX remains keen to expand through 2025 and beyond, and to mirror other motorsport categories in having a diverse portfolio of locations, highlighting the success of rural events attended by hardcore fans, and the intrigue from when it visited downtown Hong Kong in 2023—reckoning the ‘battle of technologies’ can draw a new audience.

“We have some really nice tracks, like Höljesin Sweden is the Wimbledon of rallycross, 25,000 people, everyone knows about it,” Dirks says. “But with EV and the ICE cars on sustainable fuel we have the option to go into city centre to go to where the people are and there’s a strong demand—Hong Kong was amazing—hopefully we can do that [again], so we’re working on this.

“When we go to, let’s say, very traditional markets then of course we have fans that love to hear the noise of the car, the smell of the car, that probably are not in favour of EV cars. So combining those technologies we provide something for everyone – the younger generation that maybe grew up with EV cars and like it, but even say ‘hey I prefer that to the very noisy ICE cars’, but people that want to hear the noise, they love it as well, and what we’ve seen so far is that even people that love the noise, if an EV car wins, they still go crazy about it.”

The FIA has an equivalence of technology to ensure close competition between EVs and ICEs, and organizers are hopeful that the story can continue long-term—possibly with new technology.

“I think it should be the plan, we think it works, we’d like to keep the battle of technologies,” Dirks says. “It doesn’t not mean just EV versus ICEs, it could be introducing hydrogen or any other technologies, but it’s what we should build on now, to showcase future technologies in our championship.”

Hansen agrees that WRX needs to stay receptive to pitching different technologies against each other.

“I believe it will stay the battle of technologies,” he says. “And I hope hydrogen cars come also, so we can mix it up, as long as we get the weight and balance well with the power [output]. I think this is the way. If you look at the roads and in towns it’ll be a mixture of electric, hydrogen and combustion cars, and who knows, more technologies will be coming.”