Extreme E Odyssey 21

‘E’ is for eco, electric and “Eeeeh!”

This snarling beast is a particularly fearless electric SUV called the Odyssey 21 – and a bunch of them are competing across challenging terrains in the world’s most endangered places. Welcome to Extreme E, the latest venture from the people behind F1’s greener cousin, Formula E. But XE takes the whale-saving to another level. This is motorsport meets National Geographic.

There’s no questioning the calibre of the racers: rally legends Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb are going up against Jenson Button, while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg own teams and, uniquely, the sport mandates an even gender split across its nine teams – so women compete alongside men, including Britain’s Jamie Chadwick and Catie Munnings.

But the green part of this deal is every bit as serious. First of all, the championship pledges to leave each racing venue better than it was found by creating ‘legacy programmes’ tailored to help the natural world.

To keep the carbon footprint to a minimum, there are no spectators and teams are restricted to five on-site technicians. ‘X Prix’ are among the most remote sporting events ever to be broadcast live, but many of those involved are back in London or Amsterdam.

There’s a medivac helicopter on site in case something awful happens, but overhead shots are recorded by drones. The cars are carried to the races aboard a ship that runs on low-sulphur diesel and provides scientific residencies for ecological research.

Stuff attended the first race in the Saudi Arabian desert, which proved to be a tough affair with the track flipping cars and tearing off tyres. The new tech took a beating, with suspension woes, overheating batteries, power-steering failures and one wrecked chassis. And the next race in Senegal (29-30 May) presents a completely different set of challenges.

XE has set out to transcend sport. It’s easy to be cynical about EVS ripping through tortured landscapes, but so far it’s a thrilling spectacle – and actually has diehard motorsport fans talking about the climate crisis.