Skip to main content

Sparking an interest in EVs – the electric racing car

President of motorsport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Jean Todt and Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings revealed the much-anticipated new Spark-Renault SRT01E fully-electric Formula E single-seat racing car during the opening day of the 65th International Frankfurt Motor Show. The SRT01E has been designed and built by Spark Racing Technology, together with a consortium of the leading manufacturers in motorsport, and will compete in the inaugural FIA Formula
September 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
President of motorsport’s governing body, the 7113 Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Jean Todt and Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings revealed the much-anticipated new Spark-2453 Renault SRT01E fully-electric Formula E single-seat racing car during the opening day of the 65th International Frankfurt Motor Show.

The SRT01E has been designed and built by Spark Racing Technology, together with a consortium of the leading manufacturers in motorsport, and will compete in the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship - the world’s first global electric race series beginning in September 2014.

The vast range of technical expertise being used by Spark Racing Technology includes a consortium consisting of McLaren, Renault and Dallara. McLaren Electronic Systems will supply the transmission, electronics and powertrain for the car, while technical partner Renault SAS will use its technological expertise to optimise the electric and electronic layout and performance of the powertrain.

Italian firm Dallara will produce the chassis with tyres being supplied by tyre partner Michelin. Williams Advanced Engineering, part of the Williams group of companies that includes the world famous Williams F1 Team, will design and assemble the batteries that will power the car and Qualcom Halo wireless electric vehicle charging (WEVC) technology will be adapted to be fitted into the track safety cars so they can be wirelessly charged.
 
Launched by the FIA, Formula E is a brand new motor racing championship featuring Formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy.

The FIA says it represents "a vision for the future of the motor industry over the coming decades".

Investors believe that motor racing can help to tackle the image problem which electric cars have and serve as a framework for research and development around the electric vehicle, accelerating general interest in these cars and promoting sustainability.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK council ‘budget cuts’ halt development of EV charging
    March 18, 2019
    More than 100 UK local authorities say they have no plans to increase their number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points. These findings have been revealed from freedom of information (FoI) requests submitted by the Liberal Democrats and shared with The Guardian newspaper. According to the report, Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat former energy and climate change secretary, says the lack of investment in charging points is due to “cuts to council budgets”. “Unless there is urgent action to tackle our out
  • The afterlife of spent electric vehicle batteries
    April 20, 2012
    Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 per cent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power cut.
  • Zero-emission hybrid-electric truck evaluation
    February 2, 2012
    Vision Industries, which has been marketing its Class 8 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric truck for more than a year, is working with the Port of Los Angeles to further evaluate its performance in the rigorous port trucking environment.
  • Need for harmonisation in ITS standards
    February 1, 2012
    As the calendar rolls over, and we hop from continent to continent and World Congress to World Congress, where Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation agreements are the headline news, it is easy for those not intimately involved to forget that standards definition is a well-nigh continual process. Significant progress has been made in recent months towards achieving the critical mass and economies of scale which are going to drive development and deployment in, amongst other things, cooperative infrastr