Formula E selects eight new powertrain manufacturers for 2015/16
Renault Sport and five of the teams currently contesting the maiden FIA Formula E Championship are among the eight new manufacturers accredited to produce powertrains from 2015/2016
Renault Sport and five of the teams currently contesting the maiden Formula E Championship are among the eight new manufacturers accredited to produce powertrains from 2015/2016.
The second season will mark the beginning of Formula E moving away from the control Spark-Renault SRT_01E package, which is powered by a McLaren Electronic Systems unit.
Already a technical partner and represented in the series through e.DAMS, Renault has been selected following an FIA tender process, along with ABT Sportsline, Andretti, Mahindra, Venturi Automobiles and Virgin Racing Engineering.
Newcomers Motomatica and NEXTEV TCR complete the line-up.
All eight will be free to develop powertrains through a bespoke e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system.
The remainder of the package will remain unchanged, with batteries the next stage of Formula E's evolution in the third season.
By the fifth year, that development is expected to see drivers use a single car in each race.
"One of our objectives from the beginning was to promote technology competition but we cannot do that as organisers of the championship, we need 'actors' to join and to develop technologies to fight against each other in the races," Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, said.
"Through this fight we improve the technology and then with this improved technology we improve electric cars in general.
"We expect more manufacturers to join from season three onwards and we're already talking with many different manufactures and also OEMs."
The new powertrains are expected to start testing mid-year.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments