During the COVID lockdown, I watched the 24 Hours of Le Mans from bed. A simple question stayed with me:
Why can’t an electric car take on Le Mans?
Electric vehicles had already demonstrated extraordinary acceleration and short-distance performance. But endurance asks a more serious set of questions. Can a battery deliver repeatable energy for 24 hours? Can cooling, charging, software, safety, and pit operations work as one reliable system?
The Electric Le Mans Initiative exists to explore those questions in public. We are not presenting a finished race car or claiming an official entry. We are building a rigorous, open thesis for what a pure-electric Garage 56 completion project would require.
Our first definition of success is deliberately honest: a safe, credible, documented finish. Completion would turn assumptions into evidence and create useful knowledge for the next generation of electric mobility.
The next era of motorsport will be shaped by people willing to define the hard problems, share what they learn, and make the first move.
Sincerely,
Taehyeong Kim
Founder, Electric Le Mans Initiative