- Jaguar Land Rover confirms its electric future with entry for
Jaguar into the innovative FIA Formula E Championship
- Formula E to provide a real world performance test bed for
future Jaguar Land Rover technology
- Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's leading investor in research and
development , strengthens its commitment to British engineering by
extending development of electrification technology into the racing
environment
- Jaguar Land Rover engineers will work directly with Jaguar's
race team to push the boundaries of electrification technology
- Watch video: HERE
Tuesday 15 December 2015: Jaguar today
announced its return to global motorsport. In the autumn of 2016,
Jaguar will enter the third season of the exciting FIA Formula E
Championship as a manufacturer with its own team. FIA Formula E is
the world's first global single-seater championship for electric
powered cars.
FIA Formula E offers a unique opportunity for Jaguar Land Rover
to further the development of future EV powertrain including motor
and battery technology.
Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover,
said: "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 and 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 Land Rover employs over 8,000 engineers and is the UK's
largest investor in research and development across any business
sector. Jaguar's Formula E team will be able to draw upon this
industry leading resource with Jaguar Land Rover engineers working
closely with the race operations team.
Those engineers will not only be able to apply their knowledge
within the race team environment but crucially use the experience
to extract data and push the boundaries of electric technology in a
performance environment.
Williams Advanced Engineering will be Technical Partner to the
Jaguar Formula E Team and provide extensive motorsport knowledge,
combined with high performance EV Systems experience and success.
Jaguar Land Rover has a long term relationship with Williams, who
partnered with Jaguar on the development of the Jaguar C-X75
plug-in hybrid concept car. The team entry has been granted by
Formula E and approved by the Fédération
Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Alejandro Agag, Chief Executive Officer for Formula E,
said: "We are delighted to welcome Jaguar into Formula E.
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."
Jean Todt, President of the FIA said: "The FIA is pleased to
welcome Jaguar as a new manufacturer to enter the
FIA Formula E Championship. We built this series to offer an
alternative competition for manufacturers to step into the sport
and develop road-relevant electric technologies. The choice of
Jaguar to come back to motor racing with Formula E is a proof of
success. As it forges a path forward for the future of the electric
car, Formula E managed to attract one of the most prestigious and
historical brand across the automotive industry. I wish them
success ahead of their arrival in 2016/2017".
James Barclay, Jaguar Team Director, said: "We looked
in detail at alternative ways of returning to motorsport. This was
such an important decision for Jaguar and we wanted to get it
right. With our future EV plans, Formula E was the obvious choice
and we believe that the benefits are enormous. The FIA and the
promoter have exciting plans for the future of the championship and
we are proud to be one of the first vehicle manufacturers to commit
to the series with our own team. We have a lot of work to do ahead
of the first race but it is a challenge we relish. We hope that we
can welcome a new generation of fans to Jaguar through this
exciting programme."
More details on Jaguar's return to racing including team
presentation, drivers and partners will be released in the run up
to season three.
- ENDS -
For further details please contact:
James Scrimshaw
Senior Public Affairs Executive
Jaguar Land Rover Australia
Phone: +61 2 9020 1773
Email: jscrimsh@jaguarlandrover.com
|
Tim Krieger
General Manager - Communications and Public Affairs
Jaguar Land Rover Australia
Phone: +61 2 9020 1505
Email: tkrieger@jaguarlandrover.com
|