Extreme E chief marketing officer Ali Russell spoke with NAB Amplify live production community director Fergal Ringrose for NAB Show Premiere 2021.
Watch the “Extreme E – Racing for a Cause” session here, and explore additional NAB Amplify Premiere sessions here.
The all-new electric SUV race series Extreme E had its debut in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Extreme E is backed by some of the biggest names in motorsport including Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, along with American motorsport legends including Chip Ganassi and Michael Andretti.
Extreme E has been launched to showcase the uncompromising ability of environmentally friendly technology to power automobiles across the most challenging terrains worldwide.
To start, Ali Russell explained the background and raison d’etre for Extreme E — and the reasons why each of the five racing locations were chosen to highlight the planet’s climate crisis in different ways.
Extreme E was designed as a purely televised live broadcast project without spectators — and of course it is also a key goal to have as lean a footprint as possible. The single biggest manifestation of that goal is Extreme E’s floating centerpiece, the St Helena. Using a ship rather than airplanes to get from A to B is reckoned to save 75% of carbon costs.
Molly Taylor (AUS)/Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing 
Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44, and Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing, race away at the start 
Extreme E 2021: Desert X-Prix 
Catie Munnings (GBR)/Timmy Hansen (SWE), Andretti United Extreme E 
Christine ‘GZ’ Giampaoli Zonca (ESP)/Oliver Bennett (GBR), Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team 
Sara Price (USA)/Kyle Leduc (USA), Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing 
Cr: Extreme E 
The all-new electric SUV race series Extreme E had its debut in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Cr: Extreme E 
Cr: Extreme E 
The E-SUVs themselves use 400kw (550hp) batteries and are built from the ground up by Spark Racing Technology. Each race team is limited to eight people on site, which include the drivers, one engineer, and five mechanics. 
Molly Taylor (AUS)/Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing 
Molly Taylor (AUS)/Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing
Russell explained the commissioning of the St Helena for Extreme E, plus the crewing and live production approach taken by the team plus broadcast partners Aurora Media Worldwide, NEP and Al Kamel Systems. The result is a unique live production concept highlighting both the remote race locations chosen plus the power of remote technologies, connectivity and graphics.
Another major innovation for Extreme E is the Command Center — which is a classic motorsport pit wall unpacked, working with partners ADI and Aurora Media Worldwide. Russell explained this brand new concept with drivers and teams interacting in the Command Center – an approach that may well gain traction among other motorsports around the globe.
Partnerships are very important to Extreme E, and Russell discussed some key partnerships announced including TikTok, Count Us In and Polymateria.
Finally, as the St. Helena heads to Senegal for the next race in the series, the Ocean X Prix, Ali Russell reflected on the launch of the series and the success of Extreme E after two years of planning and preparation – much of which with the huge extra challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to be faced, absorbed and worked around over the last year.
