NASCAR signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with Eaton Electrical that will bring electric vehicle-charging stations to the sanctioning body’s offices in Daytona, Charlotte and Concord, N.C.
Eaton, an electrical product manufacturer, will be the official eV charging system of NASCAR Green.Under terms of the deal, it will install 20 electric vehicle-charging stations across the three offices. It will receive rights to promote its membership in the NASCAR Green program and be highlighted along with more than a dozen other NASCAR Green partners in a 30-second spot that runs every weekend during Sprint Cup races.
NASCAR Green Partners
■ 3M
■ Coca-Cola
■ Creative Recycling*
■ Eaton Electrical*
■ Freescale
■ Freightliner
■ Goodyear
■ Green Plains Renewable Energy
■ Green Earth Technologies*
■ Growth Energy
■ Liberty Tire*
■ McLaren
■ MillerCoors
■ National Corn Growers Association
■ New Holland Agriculture*
■ Novozymes*
■ Poet
■ Safety-Kleen
■ Sprint
■ Sunoco
■ Toyota
■ UPS
*Exclusively sponsors of NASCAR Green.
Source: NASCAR
Financial terms of the deal weren’t available, but most NASCAR Green deals are valued in the mid-six figures.
“Motorsports has been an incubator of technology innovations in transportation,” said Johnny Miller, global client director of Eaton’s electrical business and a former NASCAR driver. “We believe that this collaboration and partnership that we put together with NASCAR will not only help Eaton but drive the adoption of the grid-connected vehicle.”
Eaton is a publicly traded company with a market cap of more than $29 billion. In addition to making vehicle-charging stations, it develops electrical products used in power transmission, hydraulics systems, aircraft, and truck and car powertrain systems.
NASCAR spoke with at least 10 electrical vehicle-charging manufacturers before striking a deal with Eaton, said Mike Lynch, NASCAR’s managing director of green innovation and strategic development. He said that NASCAR will use the charging stations to help promote the electrical vehicles its manufacturers — Ford, General Motors and Toyota — offer.
“All three of our manufacturing partners have significant commitments to the plug-in-vehicle space,” Lynch said. “This gives us an opportunity to add to the showcase of the [Chevrolet] Volt, the [Ford] Fiesta and the [Toyota] Rav 4 and Toyota Prius. These are growth segments for them.”
More than 10 NASCAR employees drive electrical vehicles to work, but Lynch said he hopes that number will rise as a result of the charging stations.
“Already we have new commitments as we get these in,” Lynch said.
