It’s an important day in the still brief history of Formula E. The inaugural season has yet to reach its halfway point, with the fifth round taking place on 14 March in Miami, and already eight constructors have been revealed to enter the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship in season two. Today, the governing body has published the list of manufacturers, which goes from A for ABT Sportsline to V for Virgin Racing, via the names of Andretti, Mahindra, Motomatica, Nextev TCR, Renault Sport and Venturi Automobiles. Some of them are world renowned names in the motor industry, some are key players in this first season of Formula E, while others are companies at the cutting edge of technology, keen to exploit this platform to develop new solutions for powering electric cars and a perfect match for one of the initial objectives of this Formula.
We spoke about the news with Alejandro Agag, the Formula E CEO, who along with FIA President Jean Todt, believed more than anyone in this project. “It’s fantastic that there are already so many constructors who want to compete in Formula E, right from its second season,” said Agag. “It demonstrates that we have reached one of our initial objectives, in other words, to make available to everyone, a racing series where one can experiment with new technologies, which one day could find their way onto road cars.”
However, the aim of having many constructors competing, must not lead to an escalation of costs, a point about which Agag is adamant. “Cost control is one of the key elements of our project: we are aiming for gradual technical development, while focusing on the things that really count.
“That’s why, next season, work will be allowed on the powertrain, the inverter, the energy regenerators and on the overall energy efficiency. Furthermore, each team will be able to ask a given constructor for its powertrain to be supplied at a fixed maximum cost, thus allowing even the smaller teams to benefit from technology that would otherwise be unattainable. As from the third season, different batteries will also be allowed, although there will still only be one chassis supplier. It’s the fifth season that will see a significant change, in that instead of the current use of two cars per race, each driver will use just one, thus requiring a doubling of battery life. It’s an ambitious target and in order to reach it, competition between these constructors and others that might participate in the future, will be vital.”
When it came to Formula E’s ability to attract competitors, Agag seems confident. “I am convinced there will be more constructors as from the third season, including OEMs. I think that already, behind some of the candidatures announced today by the FIA, there are some OEMs, who however want to maintain a cautious approach to see if the championship grows in strength. Discussions are already taking place and they will continue in the coming months, with the aim of having them with us from 2016/17.”