Electric off-road series Extreme E has been slowly bolstering its reputation in the racing world by signing on big names and developing big ideas. Now, that effort has been recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or the FIA, the governing body for many international sporting events. Extreme E has been granted International FIA Series status.

Receiving International FIA Series status basically means that Extreme E now enters into a reciprocal relationship with the FIA, where it benefits from the FIA’s experience and advice while agreeing to conform to .

So, basically, Extreme E will set up and organize events the way the FIA asks all of its series to do. In exchange, Extreme E will be legitimized as a racing series and will be able to consult the FIA when it comes to planning or developing new events or its own sporting regulations.

It also means a few others things:

Competitors must hold an appropriate FIA license in order to compete.Competition must be held based on a firmly organized calendar of events.Circuits or otherwise outlined courses have to conform to regulatory standards regarding safety, feasibility, etc.Extreme E can call itself a World Championship. It would not be able to do so without FIA approval.A whole lot of other complex rules that you can read on the .

It also means that Extreme E can receive guidance on how to meet those requirements if need be.

From Alejandro Agag, CEO of Extreme E:

All of us at Extreme E are delighted to have this seal of approval and be officially classified as an FIA International Series. We’ve been working hard towards this goal and the speed of recognition by the FIA gives us all a great confidence boost as we prepare to start our first season in 2021.

Basically, receiving this status from the FIA means that your series is an actual, legitimate, real-life series that should be taken seriously. It’s the kind of status you definitely want to have before you’ve even had your first event.