You place the highest demands on our tires, which is why Continental is up for any challenge – to push the envelope in terms of performance and safety. Our next journey, as a Founding Partner of Extreme E is just around the corner. We’re returning for a second season of our unique off-road competition after a spectacular first season! Join us for the second season of a race series that ventures into uncharted territory: tracks in the most inhospitable corners of the world, sustainable off-road vehicles with a powerful electric drive, and a racing series where victory is only possible through perfect coordination between vehicle and driver.
Think an electric car is only good for city commuting? Think again. The new season of Extreme E will transport you to the planet’s most remote and untamed regions. Motorsports has never been more exhilarating than when teams of professional drivers compete in extreme conditions for the ultimate prize.
With the momentum of the Formula E series, where global audiences grew to 330 million in just four seasons, the time was right for a whole new kind of racing event. Extreme E brings high-performance sports utility vehicles to the harshest road conditions imaginable, where only the most fearless drivers, aided by precisely engineered technology, can succeed.
Extreme E sees 10 teams with one male and one female driver compete in 5 locations across the globe. And as a founding partner of the series, Continental will once again provide custom-built tires to ensure perfect road grip, whether in South America, across the desert in Saudi Arabia, or the beautiful coast of Sardinia.
Extreme E promises to be the most extreme form of motorsports, and Swedish racing star Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky is Continental's official test driver of tires developed for the event. Watch the action unfold in our Beyond the Extreme video series.
Watch the first episode here
Absolutely integral to the Extreme E experience is the RMS St Helena, a former Royal Mail ship which transports our intrepid competitors to five different race locations around the world.
The ship has been transformed and upgraded with a multimillion euro retrofit, and doubles as an operating base and floating paddock for the global expedition; it has a state-of-the-art garage plus a central hub for operations, logistics, communications, and accommodation.
So where will the Extreme E adventure lead us, and what challenging conditions will the drivers face?
11 – 12 March 2023: NEOM, Saudi Arabia
Season 3 gets underway once again in the sustainable future metropolis of NEOM in Saudi Arabia, where Extreme E competitors will face sweltering heat, arid and sandy terrain. NEOM is a futuristic idea that will one day house big minds and businesses working towards a new model of sustainability. As the location of our previous two season openers, it is the ideal location to kick off the latest edition of the Extreme E series.
13-14 May 2023: Scotland
Extreme E returns to the United Kingdom for the first time since its Season 1 decider in Dorset and there are few better places to test our drivers’ mettle than the rugged landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Exact location to be confirmed.
8-9 July 2023: Sardinia Italy
Sardinia's spectacular coastline and diverse Mediterranean. terrain make it an ideal location for an Extreme E race. So much so, that the series is returning to the Italian island for the third time in Season 3. But this will be no beach holiday, as competitors will know all too well by now. The drivers will have to contend with gravel, maybe even rocks and changes in elevation. Four-wheel drive will be essential to help the cars deal with slippage on the shifting surface.
16-17 September 2023: Brazil or USA
Race information to follow
02-03 December 2023: Antofagasta, Chile
The Atacama Desert proved to be one of the toughest races yet when it debuted on the Extreme E circuit in Season 2. As the driest place on earth, with little-to-no rainfall in the last 200 million years, this region in the north of Chile is home to terrains that can be compared to the soil on Mars – posing a truly unearthly challenge to all involved. As environmentally fascinating as it is physically demanding, it's no surprise to see the series returning for Season 3.
An extreme race requires extreme tires
Extreme E is the most extreme racing series the world has ever seen. A new race, held under such unique and challenging conditions, required a new kind of tire.
An extreme race requires extreme tires: Continental tires!
As an Extreme E Founding Partner, we’re doing our bit to ensure all competitors have the best possible equipment to deal with whatever trials they face. Continental carefully examined the requirements of the race series and built an ultra-high-performance tire which specifically addresses the needs of the competing teams.
The performance optimized tires are not just built for extreme conditions, but also for the unique requirements of the competing pure electric SUVs.
Scorching heat or blistering cold; muddy, sandy or icy – no matter how extreme the conditions, the drivers and their vehicles need a reliable tire that provides grip, traction and excellent performance at every stage of the race. The Continental CrossContact LX, the basis of the tire developed for Extreme E, is a well-balanced all-season touring tire with a specially designed tread to enhance traction and stability on practically any surface.
For season 2, we’re taking things to another level. The new CrossContact tire is all about sustainability, keeping with the Extreme E tradition of fostering environmental consciousness. The CrossContact is now more sustainable than ever, with one-third of the tire made of reused materials!
Extremely electric-electric SUVs for extreme races
All Extreme E participants use the same set of standardised equipment. That’s where motorsport manufacturer Spark Racing Technology comes into the picture; they will create, assemble and deliver a brand-new electric SUV model for the brave pioneers of the off-road racing series.
All Extreme E participants use the same set of standardised equipment: the tires, the battery and the SUV-model.
Another critical component of the Extreme E cars will be the battery. The same company which assembled the batteries and cells for the first four seasons of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, Williams Advanced Engineering, is responsible for this essential item.
Extreme E´s all electric SUV, called Odyssey 21, is equipped for races under the harshest conditions. Discover the impressive car.
Extreme E is a global racing championship that sees all-electric SUVs battle head-to-head in some of the world’s most extreme environments.
There are two days of racing per event. The qualifying sessions will take place on the first day before the final rounds will be held on the second day. Each team races twice on day 1 in grids up to four cars. At the end of day 1, the top four progress to semi-final 1 and the bottom four go into semi-final 2, the so called “crazy race”. The top three from semi-final 1 progress to the final, but only one from the all-or-nothing “crazy race”. The winner of the final wins the X prix.
The off-road stages will be around 8 km in length, and there will be two laps per race. After the first lap the drivers have to switch so that one lap is driven by the female and one lap driven by the male driver.
