FIA Confirms Porsche As Newest Manufacturer In Formula E

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has officially confirmed Porsche as a Formula E manufacturer starting from next season. Porsche, along with Mercedes-Benz will be the two new manufacturers joining the electric racing series in Season 6, which will commence at the end of 2019. The Weissach factory team had announced in July last year that it is planning to compete in Formula E, and now with the official confirmation, it will continue pursuing development of its own electric powertrain, which is due for homologation in 2019. 

Apart from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, the FIA Formula E also confirmed the other manufacturers for Season 6 with the list including Audi Sport, BMW AG, DS Automobiles, Jaguar Land Rover, Mahindra Racing, NextEV NIO, Nissan, Penske Autosport and Venturi Automobiles. The teams will be developing the Gen2 Formula E car, which will make its debut with Season 5 later this year. 

Porsche Vice President, in charge of the Formula E programme, Fritz Enzinger said, "Over the past few years, the FIA and Alejandro Agag have done a fantastic job. It is due to this development that we will be able to compete on the race track against many of the world's largest car manufacturers."

(Porsche had announced in July 2017, of its plans to join Formula E)

Andreas Seidl, who was has been responsible for the Le Man's Prototype 919 Hybrid project, will also be responsible for the technical development and execution of the Formula E programme at Porsche. Speaking about the same, Seidl said, "The possibilities and performance of electric cars have been a central topic at Porsche for quite a while. The deeper our engineers get into the topic, the more fascinating the solutions become. We can't wait to receive our first vehicle in early 2019 and to test our own powertrain in it. The Gen2 racer, which was unveiled by Formula E in Geneva in early March, is very well executed."

As with all manufacturers, Formula E will be providing the chassis and battery to manufacturers, while the powertrain components need to be developed by the competitors. Porsche says this will help the automaker to find bespoke solutions for key technologies including the electric motor, inverter, brake-by-wire system; as well as the transmission, differential, monocoque, suspension components attached to the rear-axle as well as the cooling system for the ECU. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz will have a two-year homologation period, until the next cycle begins for the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

The development of these components will not only be vital for the manufacturer for the electric racing series but also translate into the improved development of road-going electric vehicles. 

Porsche will be entering the electric vehicle segment in 2019 with a bang with the launch of the production-spec Mission E. The all-electric offering is a first from Porsche and the automaker has announced that its entry to Formula E will coincide with the market launch of the Mission E electric car. The automaker will be investing over 6 billion Euros in electric mobility before the end of 2022.