Jaguar Set to Return to Motorsports with Electric Car Entry in Formula E Championship
Jaguar has announced its return to global motorsports. In the fall 2016, it will compete in the all-electric Formula E Championship. Jaguar will enter the third season of the Formula E Championship with its own team.
This new team will be a testing ground of new technologies for electric vehicles as well as taking part in the electric car championship.
As of yet, the manufacturer has said not much, but the company stated that this would be first of many entries in their range of electric cars. Since Formula E is the world’s first and largest motorsport, Jaguar wants to set its mark on the global stage with its all new electric cars.
Jaguar intends to develop future EV powertrain systems with enhancements particularly in the motor and battery. Williams Advanced Engineering will be joining them as their official technical partners in this endeavor and will provide them high performance EV systems.
This alliance will prove vital for their plans of manufacturing electric vehicles in the long run.
In a statement on the carmakers website Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover, had this to say : “ I am proud to announce Jaguar’s return to racing with an entry into the innovative FIA Formula E championship.
Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover’s future product portfolio. – Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies. The Championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions.
It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades.
The future is about being more connected and more sustainable. Electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase.
Formula E has recognised and reacted to these trends and the championship’s exciting and pioneering approach is the perfect fit for our brand.”
Jaguar Looks To the Future: Electric Cars
Since the technical support team will now transfer to Spark Racing Technologies, Williams can finally team up with Jaguar to take care of the factory racing team, in addition to working on their electric vehicle projects using similar technologies.
Jaguar Land Rover currently employs 8,000 engineers and is the largest investor in R&D in the UK across all business sectors. That is an amazing feat! Jaguar’s Formula E team will work closely with their technical partners at Williams Advanced Engineering. They will apply their technical knowledge in a creative manner.
Furthermore, the experience accrued will be used to extract data and push the limits of electric technologies in a performance environment.
Jaguar and Williams have a long-running relationship. Williams helped develop the Jaguar C-X75 plug-in hybrid car several years ago. They plan to continue that allegiance by taking their first steps into the world of Electric Vehicles. Transitioning from traditional and hybrid cars to fully electric automobiles.
This is a win-win scenario for all parties involved. Jaguar will receive a test bed from Williams and all of the motorsport publicity. Williams gets to collaborate on a fascinating new project. And the FIA grabs a new manufacturer for the Formula E Championships, drawing in more viewers.
Racing fans will be able to watch an exciting team race on the tracks once again after its brief hiatus from motorsport.
Formula E hots Up
Alejandro Agag, Chief Executive Officer for Formula E, had this to say on the official Formula E website:
“We are delighted to welcome Jaguar into Formula E. Jaguar is a brand with a rich sporting heritage. The fact that it is returning to global motorsport with Formula E is a huge endorsement of the championship. Also its ability to influence the development of electric cars. . .
. . . Jaguar brings with it a passionate fan base that will drive the popularity of the championship across the world. This once again shows that Formula E is the future of motorsport.”
Jaguar believes that the Formula E Championship is the best platform to display its intention of distributing all-electric road cars globally. The British team at Jaguar will join the German team of Audi and the French team of Renault in launching their electric vehicles on the market.
Further details of Jaguar’s team, including their drivers, partners, and car specifications, will be provided in the weeks running up to the third season of the Formula E Championship. Stay tuned for more information.
