A tweet posted two days ago by Marc Priestley unveiled what we’ve been suspecting for some time now: BMW’s i8 is now the official Formula E safety car. This comes as no surprise as the German brand has been one of the biggest sponsors of the event in recent years.
On top of naming and transforming the BMW i8 in the competition’s official safety car, an i3 will also be used as a medical car, for all sorts of emergencies. This duo sure belongs in the FIA Formula E and we couldn’t think of a better fit.
The i8 used in the competition will also be fitted with Qualcomm Halo wireless charging technology that allows the car to charge easier than ever before. The Qualcomm Halo technology uses resonant magnetic induction to transfer energy between a ground-based pad and a charging pad fitted to the underside of the vehicle. The cars can then simply park over the base pad for charging to start automatically.
Unfortunately, though, we don’t have the exact specs of the cars just yet as they haven’t been released. We do know that the i8 will be driven by Bruno Correia while the i3 Medical Car’s operations will be overseen by FIA Medical Delegate Dr Phil Rayner and his team.
What’s rather strange is that BMW made no comment and released no official press release about this news so far. Unlike in the MotoGP championship and the DTM where their cars are also used in a similar manner (and they do get plenty of publicity out of it) the i8 safety car was kept really hush hush until now. Hopefully, things will change and we’ll get to learn all about its specs in the near future.
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