Formula One should be at the forefront of raising interest in electric cars, according to the European Commission.
FIA president Jean Todt told the Financial Times his organisation had been asked to set-up a racing championships for electric cars, go-karts and single seater. The championships could run at circuits on grand prix weekends from as early as 2013.
“We want as soon as possible to have new categories with new energy," he said. “As much as we can do it all over the world, we will do it."
Todt has established an electric car commission unit under former BMW director Burkhard Goeschel to help develop the electric championships.
The Frenchman has admitted it will be a struggle to convince Formula One teams to fully adopt new technologies such as electric propulsion, as their desire to win will always outweigh and green agendas they may have.
“The racing community are only interested in how to improve performance because they want to win,” said Todt.
“If you speak to the boards of manufacturers they feel a strong interest to implement the technologies, which are not so obvious for the sporting community, because it costs money and research and it doesn’t improve performance, and I understand that.”
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