Extreme E closes gender performance gap by 70% in four seasons

Extreme E’s mixed gender racing format has closed by 70% between its male and female drivers by 70% since its inaugural 2021 season to-date.

From Season 1 to Season 4, the median average time between drivers has deceased year-on-year.

During the first season of Extreme E, the female crews were 4.5 seconds slower than their male counterparts. In the most recent season, the gap had reduced to just 1.1 seconds.

E.ON Next Veloce Racing driver, Molly Taylor, is one of Extreme E’s most decorated drivers, achieving eight victories and the inaugural Championship title. The Australian has the most victories of any female driver and second most overall – only one fewer than double champion Johan Kristoffersson – despite competing in three fewer events than the Swede.

“Extreme E has without a doubt changed the course of my career and I’m confident all the female drivers in the series would say the same thing,” said Taylor. “We all know how challenging motorsport is, but what Extreme E has proven is that with the right opportunity, exposure, development and investment we can see women reach the top.

“It can be a difficult cycle to break; you need the seat time to prove your potential, but you need results to attract the support needed to access that very seat time. Extreme E put themselves out there and tried something new to force change and it makes me so proud to be one of the drivers to prove the success of this concept.

“We have built some strong momentum and, whilst this doesn’t alleviate the continuing challenges of motorsport, we are making change. It’s pretty special and something I hope motorsport can learn from more broadly.”

Extreme E founder and CEO, Alejandro Agag echoed his champion driver’s comments by adding: “Our sporting format is more than just a race, it’s a statement. By levelling the playing field, Extreme E has demonstrated that the gender gap in performance isn’t a matter of ability, but opportunity and investment.”

For the 2025 season onwards, Extreme E will become Extreme H as it adopts hydrogen power. Despite the change in fuel, the sport’s onus will remain on driving clean tech forward, innovation, and gender equality.