Didier Clement explains how he perceives this new era (for Rally2 cars) via WRCWings:
“We, Citroën, we were in favour of hybridisation, because in fact, we participated at the beginning of the WRC regulation. In Rally2 we are also in favour of hybridisation… but it has little to do with hybridisation in the WRC. For the WRC, it’s high voltage with very heavy batteries, and it’s very expensive (only the battery and the electrical harness have the same cost as half a Rally2 car!). We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that a Rally2 is a customer car. We’ve already put forward some ideas to other manufacturers and to the FIA to have a light hybridisation that is cheap, with standard parts, a 48V low voltage solution with a small battery and with very little additional weight. Of course, you won’t be able to drive many kilometers on a hybrid, you will not have a big overboost, but it’s already a first step to use this hybrid energy in competition with a very low cost and no extra cost to operate.”
“Our idea is to have this regulation in 2023 or 2024, nothing is decided yet, we have to wait, but the technology that we will use in competition is known technology of series car to stay in a series price with just an additional competition package. We are pushing for the 48V low voltage solution that is used every day, it is not dangerous. When there are accidents, it is not more dangerous than with a normal car, that is why we think it is a good step and we will see if it is adopted in the future”.
