The World Rally Championship (WRC) will adopt electric or hybrid vehicles from 2022.

That’s according to President of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Jean Todt, who has suggested the details and regulations for the next generation of racing cars will be outlined this year, giving manufacturers enough time to adopt any changes.

He said: “Myself, I’m completely in favour of taking into account the evolution of motoring for rallying. And clearly it is a big frustration for me not to see that rallying has engaged on at least some hybridisation and some new technology.

“But now, finally the manufacturers say we need some hybridisation. The technical people at the FIA, with the input of the manufacturers, are working to implement it in 2022. The reason this didn’t happen earlier is because they did not want it.”

Rich Millener, M-Sport Team Principal, agreed that manufacturers were now keen to adopt low carbon rally cars, adding that without a move towards some form of electric cars, it would be hard to keep certain automakers involved with the motorsport and difficult to attract new involvement from other companies.

He noted that historically, the problem has been down to different groups being unable to decide what they want, with concerns as to what kind of systems will be used and whether they will be standardised.