Sometimes I wonder if it is just me, either marching to a different beat to everyone else, or – as I prefer to think of it – travelling in the same direction, and doing so at the same, or at least a very similar pace, just doing so on a (roughly parallel) path of my own choosing, rather than the heavily trafficked main one everyone else is obviously using.
Case in point, World Rally Championship event winner (Argentina 2016) but current series refugee, Hayden Paddon and his latest EV rally car project.
You might have seen (on TV) heard (over the radio) or read (in the NZ Herald newspaper, NZ Performance Car magazine, or on motorsport website like this one) about Hayden building a ‘radical new’ EV (Electric Vehicle) rally car.
Coincidentally the launch of the all-new, purpose-built WRC-style machine based loosely on Hyundai’s all-electric Kona SUV, was held in Auckland last Wednesday, just a day after what I suppose you could call my first ‘in praise of electric vehicles for competition’ column was published on Talk Motorsport.
“What?” asked publisher Benjamin Carrell, tongue only partly in cheek, “are you our new EV correspondent?”
It is certainly going to look that way after this column is run up the Talk Motorsport flagpole on this particular day (Tuesday Nov 10.2020). And no doubt there will be people calling for my scalp (or arse!!) on a plate if I decide to write up a third column on ‘our friends electric’ after witnessing Hayden give the Kona-based EV rally ‘weapon’ ‘demonstration runs’ at the big Repco Battle of Jack’s Ridge rally sprint event this Sunday.
In saying that I try not to plan the subject matter of these columns more than a day or two out. I prefer instead, to wait until the Sunday before the Monday night deadline… then sit down and wait, as one famous journo once wrote (or perhaps that should read…as one journo famously wrote) until beads of blood start gathering on my forehead before I finally nail down a subject and start committing words to the Word .doc open on my laptop.
That is more than enough about me and the process of writing a weekly column, however.
The subject of this column is the incredible journey Hayden remains on despite the insulting and frankly bizarre way he lost his WRC gig with Hyundai’s WRC team.
You can read about the ins and outs of that particular train wreck in his book, Driven – My story by Hayden Paddon (Penguin NZ 2019) which he co-authored with Catherine Pattison last year.
Suffice to say, Hayden really didn’t have much choice but to come home and start from scratch again when – after literally stringing him along for 18 months the team somehow managed to persuade 9-time former WRC title holder, Sebastien Loeb, to come out of retirement to take his place.
Rather than rue – and stew on – the sheer unfairness of it all Hayden dived into his grab bag of schemes, plans and things in ‘the future’ he’d ‘like to do’ and came up with Plan B – build a base back home in New Zealand from where he could eventually return to the WRC on his own terms.
Part of those terms was to build an EV rally car – as both a proof of concept and – perhaps – a ticket back to some form of ‘world’ level EV (or otherwise) competition as the case may be.
The EV rally car project was sparked by an idea early in 2018 and work on it officially commenced in March 2019. And just 18 months of intensive work at their Cromwell facility, later, Paddon and his six-strong team of engineers and designers – Matt Barham (project manager and electrical engineer), Mike Pittams (lead technician), Rory Callaway (mechanical engineer), Ben Fretwell (technician), Ari Pettigrew (technician) and Matt Bowater (plant manager) – officially pulled the covers off the completed, fully functional Hyundai Kona EV rally car at a media launch function at Hyundai New Zealand’s headquarters on Clemow Drive, Mt Wellington last Wednesday morning.
The project marks a significant milestone in New Zealand automotive and motorsport history, with 80 per cent of the car designed in-house in terms of chassis design, engineering, aerodynamics, suspension, steering, cooling, and electrics.
Austrian company Stohl Advanced Research and Development (STARD) contributed to the project as Paddon Rallysport’s technical partner, providing guidance and advice.
But the concept, execution and most of the extra sponsorship the car will carry – a list which now includes New Zealand’s largest renewable energy generator Meridian Energy, plus battery charger leaders YHI Energy and the EECA – is otherwise an all-Kiwi affair.
EV technology currently powers a range of competitive motorsport vehicles, primarily in disciplines which are based at one location, such as a race or rallycross track or a drift section.
Road-going models aside, the demands of the sort of pukka special stage rallying Hayden has very much made his own here could hardly be more different; two and three-day long events across multiple timed rally stages, competing in remote locations, with long transport sections between, and limited time for vehicle servicing – let alone battery recharging – during competition.
The design concept for the Paddon Rallysport Hyundai Kona EV, therefore, had to combine performance, range and reliability into one package so that rather than only compete against other electric-powered vehicles (like the FIA’s ABB Formula E championship for example) it could line up on an ‘as near-as-dammit’ equal footing at a traditional rally event against the current crop of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
As Hayden said at the launch function;
“Our focus in building this car was to have comparable power to a current ICE rally car and aim for it to be winning rallies against normal ICE competition from 2022.
“A lot of work still needs to happen between now and then, but we are confident that EV technology is going to work in a normal rally environment.”
In saying that New Zealand’s only WRC rally winner is plainly as excited about what he sees as the almost unlimited potential of an EV Rally car to turn the current petrol-fuelled line-up of Citroens, Toyotas, Fords and yes, even Hyundais on their heads.
“Right now,” he said at the launch function, “the EV car is faster on paper than an ICE car, has better weight distribution and is more reliable as there are fewer moving parts.
“Also,” he added, “the potential with the technology, electronics and design of the car is endless.
“It’s simply a new era of rallying that has new limits; the EV motor package we are using now is actually capable of producing over 800 kW.”
In saying that Hayden also had a warning for anyone in rallying’s rule-making bureaucracy who thinks that they can turn a blind eye to the whole EV revolution.
“Finding the way to move forward with EV technology is something we identify as being especially important for the future of our sport, not only in New Zealand but globally. If the sport does not respond, it will be left behind commercially and technologically compared to other motorsports.”
With that very much front-of-mind Hayden and the build team are about to embark on an extensive eight-month test and development programme to learn and extract the most from the car.
“The next phase of the project is focused on performance and reliability before we build up to a full-length rally in the second half of 2021.
The best bit, however, he left until last.
“Long term, we see this as a platform from which we will further develop the cars and our team to take on the world.”
More information about the Hyundai EV rally car is available on the dedicated website, www.paddonrallysport.co.nz
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