KUALA LUMPUR: With electric vehicles (EV) becoming increasingly popular in Malaysia, the Motorsports Association of Malaysian (MAM) is looking to prepare itself to start sanctioning EV races here.
MAM president Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir said races involving EVs require a completely different set of safety regulations when compared to races using internal combustion engine vehicles.
"Currently we do not have any (guidelines for sanctioning) EV races per se, but we will definitely start (studying guidelines and safety requirements) soon," said Mokhzani recently.
"It is not just MAM (who are looking into this). The International Automobile Federation (FIA) will also give us the right tutoring and guidelines on how to manage an EV race, as well as the vehicles involved.
"We will definitely issue a new guidebook (for Malaysia) once we have finalised the details.
"The safety aspect for EV racing will definitely be very different because of the battery pack, the fact that it involves high voltage electricity as well as the fact that the cars, in my guess, will weigh more than petrol cars.
"Just like when Formula One cars started having hybrid systems, the entire handling of the cars - especially in the event of an accident - will be completely different, so we have to prepare ourselves."
EV racing is not new at the global level but has mostly been limited to high-level races.
Formula E, the all-electric equivalent of Formula One, made its debut in 2014. Malaysia hosted a round of the series in Putrajaya (street circuit) during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
The eTouring Car World Cup (ETCR) had a brief run from 2021 before folding in 2023 while in the two-wheeler category, the MotoE World Championship has been running since 2019.