Audi e-tron FE05 Batmobile Racer Unveiled Ahead of Formula E Season Start

Among the first to show the new car is Audi, the reigning champion of Formula E. Their proposal for the next season is the e-tron FE05, which will be raced by two teams this time: the works team (drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Daniel Abt) and Virgin Racing.

In Formula E, the car is mostly identical for all the participants. Each is powered by identical McLaren lithium-ion batteries, with a capacity of 52 kWh and a 45-minutes recharging time. For the new season, which is the fifth since the series’ inception, all cars will be fitted with a brake-by-wire system.

Each team taking part is allowed to fit in its own drivetrain, comprised of the motor, inverter, gearbox, components of the rear suspension, as well as the corresponding software.

Audi’s new racer can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.1 seconds (0 to 62 mph), en route to a top speed of 240 km/h (150 mph).

“We retained the basic concept with one gear and at the same time refined the details and manufactured all of the parts,” said in a statement Audi’s Formula E project leader Tristan Summerscale, adding that the drivetrain for the new car is about 95 percent new and the car ten percent lighter.

For the 2018-2019 season, Audi’s car comes with no rear wing. The downforce that would have been generated by it is created in the FE05 by a large diffuser at the rear.

This trait makes the car look like something from a movie and, says Audi, has earned the FE05 a large number of nicknames from the people who already got to see it race, including Batmobile, Star Wars or spaceship.

The new Formula E season will see a great number of factory-sanctioned teams going after one another:  Audi, Renault, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, DS, and Porsche.