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Electric

Freddie's EV of the year: the Odyssey 21 racer

Flintoff recalls his experience driving the Extreme E monster

Published: 20 May 2021

When I turned up to drive the Odyssey 21 around Walters Arena for the show... I’m not going to lie, I was sceptical. I’d not driven too many electric cars and I’d heard the bodywork was made of plant fibre, and the tyres were made of dandelions. But then I’d also heard the battery was made by Williams F1, it’d do 0–60mph in 4.5 seconds on anything and had 550bhp... so I didn’t complain.

Hands down, this was my favourite few days of driving ever. I didn’t expect it, it’s just so fast. There’s even a power dial on it, 1–10. I started on number seven because the power is instant, so I wanted to work my way up. This thing’s worth a fortune don’t forget and I’ve got a bit of a record for crashing stuff. In the end the car looked after me, my driving and confidence got better and I started cranking it up.

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You’re going over bumps and it’s just eating them up, you’re sliding around corners, and all of a sudden I’m racing a man with a jetpack. I’m on the start line, I look to my left and there’s a bloke who just sets off and flies. I was smashing over snow and mud, I had no idea where he was. He did me in the end, but I think he cheated.

The thing is, the charge only lasts 20 minutes, and I’ve got to say, for me, that’s perfect – driving for that long and not crashing was a bonus. I watched the qualifying for the first race and they were barrel rolling them everywhere! I managed to keep it the right way up, so if anyone needs a driver, I’m your man.

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