Fast, furious and futuristic: Extreme E celebrates successful first championship and looks ahead to second season By Adrian Pennington
Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 11:45
Print This Story
Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44, Dorset
Rosberg X Racing (RXR) were crowned champions of the first season of Extreme E, securing the title after finishing fourth in the season-ending Jurassic X Prix in Dorset in December. RXR drivers Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson took the title after winning three of the five events of the inaugural FIA-sanctioned all-electric SUV rally championship.
The Jurassic X Prix capped what's been a very positive first year for the new sport, perhaps exceeding even the expectation of its founders. The second season drives off in just over a month.
In data supplied by Extreme E, live races were watched on average by 18.6 million people around the world, with a global audience close to 100 million across the season. Some 57 broadcasters aired the action, including Discovery, Sky Sports, Fox Sports, ProSieben Maxx, RDS, ESPN in Latin America, TV Globo in Brazil and Channel Zero in China. Interest was strongest in Europe, particularly from the UK, Germany and Spain.
Across social media the sport attracted one million followers, a total of 10.7 million engagements and 141 million video views. Of the 30,000-plus media articles it generated in 2021 (versus 13,957 in 2020) coverage was 97% positive (according to Kantar Media) with the main concentration being on environmental issues (35%) and electrification (32%).
Capturing imaginations
This is mass market here and now, says Extreme E chief marketing officer Ali Russell. The product has captured people's imagination and proved the world was ready for something new. It's been a huge success.
The combination of motorsport competition and climate change evangelism is what Russell calls sport for purpose, speaking to SVG Europe.
He says: We're creating a bedrock for innovation and new technology and to use sport to communicate a topic that has failed to cut through with many people.
Bravely going ahead and launching in the teeth of a global pandemic actually helped the product's presentation on screen, he adds, since people didn't question why there were no fans at the tracks which was our biggest concern at the start .
COVID-19 did however impact the production behind the scenes as the inaugural event in Saudi Arabia, initially planned for March, was pushed back to April and a proposed event in Nepal had to be cancelled due to the complexity of getting to the region. A replacement X Prix in Argentina and another planned X Prix in Brazil also had to be cancelled as a result of the crisis in South America.
We made a pre-emptive strike [in cancelling South America] because we felt that the pandemic was going to get worse and we didn't want to all get there and find ourselves caught in another strain [of the virus]. What it enabled us to do was stick to the Mediterranean and closer to home where there were just as many options for creating stories.
We're creating a bedrock for innovation and new technology and to use sport to communicate a topic that has failed to cut through with many people
The season ending finale at Bovington army base was preceded by an X Prix on Sardinia.
Russell adds: It's clear that the impact of climate change is a challenge for Europe just as it is for the Amazon or the Sahara, so moving forward we'll probably have more races closer to home than we envisaged before.
Indeed, Scotland remains a possible host location on the 2022 calendar with Sardinia inked in for a return along with Neom - the green energy city being built in Saudi Arabia - northern Chile and Uruguay.
Getting and in out of environments was very challenging and if we hadn't owned our own ship it would have been impossible, Russell says.
Extreme E used its own ship, the St Helena, which acted as floating transport system, paddock, science lab and COVID bubble. Although running on a form of diesel, this mode of transport is a major contributor to the enterprise's bid to lower the impact of the travel logistics compared to flying.
Production in all terrain
Production partner Aurora was involved from the championship's inception and among other things shared responsibilities (with NEP and Al Kamel Systems) for presentation and design, the spec and delivery of facilities on site, and the design and integration of VR and augmented graphics.
It was a challenge building a very forward-looking set of facilities and programming under a compressed time frame and amid COVID-conditions, but from race one onwards everything came together as expected, says David O'Carroll, Aurora's operations director.
Aurora used Unreal Engine for the first time in live sport, enhancing the graphical output of the more traditional Vizrt systems.
Our production team was amazed by the level of detail that Unreal worlds can be crafted in, says O'Carroll. The flatter desert setting perhaps didn't show this off to its best extent but in Senegal, where the course featured trees and rocks, and in Dorset the detail in the graphical overlay was incredible.
Extreme E worked hard to weave environmental education and information alongside the on-track competition in what has been described as a hybrid programming format.
From a production perspective the team worked really hard to make the two consistent and equal - and in a way that the audience didn't feel was contrived, he adds.
(L-R): Kevin Hansen (SWE), JBXE Extreme-E Team, and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE), JBXE Extreme-E Team, second position; Cristina Gutierrez (ESP), X44 and Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44, first position, Catie Munnings (GBR), Andretti United Extreme E, and Timmy Han
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
Fast, furious and futuristic: Extreme E celebrates successful first championship and looks ahead to second season By Adrian Pennington 
