Jaguar's return to racing will also give the company the opportunity to continue the development of future EV powertrains, including motor and battery technology.
According to Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover, the entry in the Formula E Championship is a very important step for Jaguar and a way to test its EV technologies under extreme performance conditions. Also, he mentions the importance of electric vehicles and says that over the next five years there will be more changes in the automotive market than in the last 30 years.
JLR is currently the UK’s largest investor in research and development across any business sector, and apart from this new move, it will also employ more than 8,000 engineers, who in theory should be able to push the boundaries of electric technology in a performance environment.
Williams Advanced Technologies will join Jaguar Land Rover in the Formula E as a Technical Partner and will provide extensive motorsport knowledge, together with EV systems experience. This is not the first time these two companies work together on a project, though, as they also collaborated on the development of the Jaguar C-X75 plug-in hybrid concept car.
Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, acknowledges that Jaguar is an important addition to the championship and brings along a rich sporting heritage passionate fan base that will further promote Formula E.
Jean Todt, President of FIA, also welcomed Jaguar in this series, of which he says it has been built to offer an alternative competition for car manufacturers to develop road-relevant electric technologies.
Throughout the years, the British company tried many times to get back into motorsport, even though its last Formula 1 endeavor was not as successful as it had hoped. Formula E is the obvious choice now, according to James Barclay, Jaguar Team Director, and he hopes that fans will enjoy this new move as much as the company does.
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