The world’s first zero emissions GT racing series is set to begin in 2017, featuring the Tesla Model S P85+.

In the Electric GT World Series, 20 drivers and 10 teams will battle it out in a seven-race season, with races in America, Asia and Europe. The races will take place on official racetracks, rather than the pop-up tracks used in Formula E.

Initially, the race series will have the Tesla Model S P85+ electric sports saloon as its standard vehicle. The road-going version of the electric car is capable of a 0-100kph of just 3.2 seconds. The racing version will get uprated suspension, brakes and cooling, and will shed a few pounds in the process.

Technical director for Electric GT Holdings, engineer and professional racing driver, Agustin Paya, said: "We chose the Tesla model S simply because it is one of the best 100% electric cars on the market. The teams will race identical models similar to the street version, with 410bhp and 442lb ft of torque. Despite being a tourer it seems to be made for racing, with its weight distribution ratio and low centre of gravity.

“We have been testing the car on the Barcelona Catalunya F1 Circuit, as well as the legendary Madrid Jarama circuit, both of which are being used as test and operations centres.

“The fun of the Electric GT category is that you are going to watch commercially available models you see on the streets, racing on circuits around the world,” added Paya, who said that, although the series will start out only using the Tesla, other makes and models will be welcome in the future.

The new championship is also said to have the support of both the Royal Spanish Motorsport Federation and the Fédération Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA).