With its first race just over one year ago on the streets of Beijing, Formula E has already seen its fair share of premiere-class drivers such as ex-F1 drivers Jacques Villeneuve, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Nelson Piquet Jr. all head to the all-electric open-wheel racing series.
And now the carmakers seem to be following.
With manufacturers now providing their own powertrains to the teams, Formula E could soon become a major development ground for the electric-vehicle industry, if it hasn’t already.
Carmakers already involved with Formula E include Renault, Audi and Citroen, as well as additional electric-vehicle companies.
And now, Jaguar seems to want to join the party.
Sky News reports that Jaguar Land Rover will announce plans next week to field a team in Formula E, helped by a partnership with Formula E battery-builder Williams Advanced Engineering. There are rumors that a second automobile manufacturer could also be entering the sport in the near future.
“It offers live testing for electrification technologies in areas such as batteries and drivetrains; that’s why it looks valuable to them [Jaguar],” one insider told Sky News.
“We have some really important news coming up that will reinforce the momentum of the championship,” Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag confirmed to Reuters. “We are announcing more OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) coming.”
“Jaguar Land Rover is continuously evaluating new opportunities for the business,” stated Jaguar in the Reuters report. “As part of that process we consider a wide range of activities including motorsport. At this point we have no new announcements to make and any news is speculation only.”
Jaguar raced in Formula One until 2004 but was pulled from the sport by parent company Ford. Jaguar has not had a works motor racing program since.
Jaguar’s addition, however, would seemingly have to come at the expense of another team, as Formula E does not plan on fielding more than 10 teams/20 cars in each race.
