Reporters’ Notebook: A China-Backed All-Electric Race Series Could Steer the Global South’s Clean Energy Transition

A sleek black concept sports car is on display under the gaze of a 6-meter-tall statue of Nelson Mandela outside a Johannesburg mall. The vehicle is bait for curious passers-by, many who stop to glimpse or gawk at the supercar this Monday in late August.

The vehicle — a Lotus electric car which the company says boasts nearly 2,000 horsepower — is enveloped by a display backdrop that reads “Elite World Cup,” an automotive racing event touted to be the world’s first all-electric hypercar race series.