Future of btcc

[MG CHRIS]

Was wondering on journey up to my hotel for a training course tomorrow what will be the future specs for btcc series.
NGTC has been a huge success for btcc since its first season back in 2011. Allowed loads of new teams to be able to build and run their own cars compared to s2000 era and as a results grids have been strong since. But looking now with the current grid the future looks a bit uncertain.

Current run cars

Hyundai i30n fastback
Ford focus
bmw 3 series
vauxhall astra
toyota corolla
seat leon

Now the ngtc been a mix of saloon cars and hatchbacks but as ev progression rules forward and rise in suv type vehicles its soon gonna find itself with not many cars to chose from.

Hyundai i30n range will be ended soon the fastback currently not being made only avilable car to be used going forward is the ioniq5 n or perhaps the kona n.
Ford focus is soon to be ended ford already partnering up with vw going into the direction of exploer and capri again big ev suv vehicle or perhaps the new puma ev.
Bmw 3 series looks to be around for a while but going ev over time
Vauxhall astra current one is out of date. Astra still being made so can be kept forward but as everything ev range ramping up.
Toyota corolla still be made and toyota way behind with ev technology.
Sear leon or cupra is out of date cupra brand will be going all ev soon already range of evs replacing the petrol models.

With the upcoming 2030 ban on ice only vehicles ever increasing targets for manufactures to increase ev production, move to suv style vehicles btcc finds itself in a really tight place. Does it continue with out of date models with a thinning model numbers. Go silhouete style vehicles or embrace the evs to keep the manufactures interested.

[GlobalRacer]

Gow talks a lot about that towards the end of this article - https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/why-the-btcc-i...

[Sebring440]

MG CHRIS said:

With the upcoming 2030 ban on ice only vehicles ever increasing targets for manufactures to increase ev production,

You're a bit out of date there...

[VladD]

At Le Mans this year they had a demonstration run of a car running with an ICE engine, but converted to running on Hydrogen. I'm hoping that's the way forward for Motorsport. If it gets adopted more fully, maybe it will feed back into road cars and let us continue to have ICE cars alongside EVs.

[Sebring440]

VladD said:

If it gets adopted more fully, maybe it will feed back into road cars.

It's being developed for road cars and that development is feeding back into race cars.

[GlobalRacer]

VladD said:

At Le Mans this year they had a demonstration run of a car running with an ICE engine, but converted to running on Hydrogen. I'm hoping that's the way forward for Motorsport. If it gets adopted more fully, maybe it will feed back into road cars and let us continue to have ICE cars alongside EVs.

Problem is an ICE engine running on hydrogen emits pretty much the same noxious substances as running on petrol and most hydrogen is still derived from fossil fuels. Hydrogen powered ICE vehicles have been around for decades. They aren't new.

The "clean" methods of making hydrogen are very energy inefficient (takes more energy to produce the hydrogen than it contains) so only makes sense when there is "waste" electricity to use. With more and more countries implementing large storage systems there won't be large amounts of "waste" electricity around.

Add in the issues with storing and transporting it and it's not the wonder fuel for private transports that many would like to think. 100% has it's place it in HGV's etc.

For motorsport I think synthetic fuels are the way to go. Niche fuel that could never hope to cover the general market for a niche industry.