Tuesday 15th December 2015
Jaguar to join Formula E
The rumours are true - Jaguar will field a factory team in the all-electric Formula E championship
Last week we reported rumours Jaguar was about to throw its weight behind a factory entry into the Formula E championship ; today we can confirm them as true, JLR announcing its participation with a full factory team from late next year.
Formula E boss Alejandro Agag is suitably chuffed at attracting such a prestigious name to the series, which hasn't been withoutafter two seasons of racing. "Jaguar is a brand with a rich sporting heritage and the fact that it is returning to global motorsport with Formula E is a huge endorsement of the championship and 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 and once again shows that Formula E is the future of motorsport."
The future of motorsport you say? There's a grenade lobbed into the comments thread...As you might expect, Jaguar cites the benefits of technology transfer from electric racing cars to similarly powered road car products as a key motivation for joining the series. "Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover's future product portfolio and Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies," says JLR Group Engineering Director Nick Rogers. "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."
Williams Advanced Engineering, which was involved in the original Formula E car and worked with Jaguar on the hybrid C-X75 concept hypercar, will be the official technical partner when the team joins the championship in the autumn of 2016, ahead of what you'd suppose would be a full entry for 2017. Enough to get us interested in electric racing cars? Have your say below...