Racing Toward an Electrified Future

The feel of the roar of the engines is one thing that brings NASCAR fans to attend a live race, so it may come as a surprise that ABB and NASCAR have partnered on an EV prototype that they display and demonstrate at those very same live races. But that’s exactly what they have done, and it is truly helping to advance conversations around electrification and electricity reliability.

I grew up going to dirt track races; we were at local tracks every weekend, eating nachos and foil-wrapped burgers, breathing exhaust and swallowing dirt. In fact, my first ever journalism job was a stint at Southwest Missouri Racing News in high school. I was responsible for race summaries at one of the local tracks each week for one summer.

So I understand the excitement and senses around the NASCAR experience (healthy or not). But when I saw these NASCAR EVs used as part of the ABB-Goodyear Pit Stop Challenge, I was impressed with the speed and precision of these models.

Two developmental pit crews forming Team ABB and Team Goodyear raced in a simulated pit stop with NASCAR driver David Ragan operating the car (and adding some burnt rubber at the end of each “stop.”) Fans lined up against the fence in the Fan Zone area to cheer on the crews and see the EVs perform.

Ragan wore a mic during some of the demos, talking through the feel and performance of the EV. “I was expecting to really be able to feel that weight difference, but it surprised me. I could feel the car a little heavier mid-corner, but with the increase of horsepower, all-wheel drive, and traction, you don’t notice any difference from an acceleration or deceleration standpoint. It actually handled very similar to what I’m accustomed to.”

ABB is using the custom-built NASCAR EV prototype to spark broader discussions about the energy transition. The car was developed at NASCAR’s R&D Center in collaboration with Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota and symbolizes cross-industry innovation. While fans initially ask performance questions (speed, 0–60, regenerative braking), those conversations naturally evolve into deeper discussions about electrification, charging infrastructure, and grid capacity.

My trip to Daytona spurred this column: I wanted to find out where we are on EV uptake in the U.S. In September 2024, I wrote in Global Viewpoint that EV sales were growing then, but not as quick as we had thought (or as utilities thought as they prepared for load growth). That was just before the data center explosion and new tariffs possibly spurring more onshoring of manufacturing. We knew electrification was increasing but here we are now, in 2026 and you now know the story….

So, in regard to EV sales, despite a 2025 bumpy market with slowed growth in Europe and the U.S., long-term trends are still showing robust, consistent growth. Global electric car stock is projected to grow fourfold by 2030, driven by China's market leadership and rising global adoption

The Southeast is particularly trending, where NASCAR originated. According to the Alliance for Clean Energy report from June 2025, electric passenger vehicle sales grew 38%, reaching an 8.3% market share, with Florida surpassing 10%. Charging infrastructure continued to grow, with the region adding more than 2,600 new public fast-charging ports, a 41% increase from the previous year.

Overall, electrification in general is rapidly accelerating, driven by falling battery costs and the continued effort to decarbonize, with the primary focus on EVs and building heating.

As I was checking into EV and electrification updated, the Iran conflict happened, and the price of oil spiked to around $100 a barrel on March 6. It remains to be seen if oil prices stay high and cause gasoline prices to increase enough to really influence internal combustion engine vehicles vs. EV sales.

Standing in the Fan Zone at Daytona watching an electric NASCAR prototype spin its tires, I couldn’t help but think about how unlikely that moment would have seemed just a few years ago. For fans who grew up around the roar of combustion engines, electrification might still feel like an outsider in motorsports. But what ABB and NASCAR are really doing isn’t trying to replace that experience—it’s starting conversations.

The EV prototype is less about proving that racing will suddenly go electric and more about showing how technology evolves. Fans come for the speed and spectacle, but they leave asking questions about charging, power supply and how the grid keeps up with a more electrified world.

That’s where the story becomes familiar to the utility industry. Electrification is rarely a straight line. Markets rise and fall, policies shift, oil prices spike and consumer behavior changes. Yet the long-term direction—more electricity powering transportation, buildings and industry—continues to move forward.