McLaren To Supply Electric Motors For New Formula E Series

[AVANTI R5]

McLaren is one of the dominant forces in racing, with its Formula One team second only to Ferrari in motorsport’s highest echelon when it comes to the total number of wins.

What many readers may not know, however, is that McLaren is much more than just a race team.

In fact, McLaren has recently formed a new road car division, McLaren Automotive, while its McLaren Electronic Systems group has been providing electric components, namely control units, to teams in various motorsport categories for years, including in F1, Indycar and NASCAR.

Now, McLaren Electronic Systems has been picked as the supplier of electric motors, transmissions and electronic control units for the upcoming Formula E Championship, the FIA’s first sanctioned racing series for electric cars.

McLaren Electronic Systems will be working with Spark Racing Technology to help develop the electric formula race cars, which will be built by Formulec and based on the French firm’s EF01 prototype.

In a statement, McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh said, I’m a passionate believer in the role that motorsport can play in showcasing and spearheading the development of future technologies, and regard the Formula E concept as an exciting innovation for global motorsport.”

A total of 10 teams and 20 drivers are expected to compete in the inaugural season of Formula E, which is currently scheduled for 2014. Demonstration races will start in the latter parts of next year, and testing of the cars is already well underway.

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[Derbagger]

It'll be a fun 3 lap race

[brett192]

There's no reason that the races can't last more than an hour on a single battery, we have the technology.

[chazly413]

This is a great way to spur electronic car innovation.

[gggplaya]

WTF is the point of having an E series if they all have to have the same electronic components?

To spark electric car innovation, you really need completely different designs which i think would make E racing more exciting. Following the best design approach, the the following years see who adapts new designs. That's how you target the e-racing demographic.

[Calamity Jesus]

Originally Posted by gggplaya

WTF is the point of having an E series if they all have to have the same electronic components?

To spark electric car innovation, you really need completely different designs which i think would make E racing more exciting. Following the best design approach, the the following years see who adapts new designs. That's how you target the e-racing demographic.

There's nothing wrong with a spec series to draw crowds and introduce new technology. E-racing will need to be something more than a novelty to get investors ready to put money into R&Ding one-off cars.

[scott_gunn]

As long as batteries aren't part of the spec, this will spur innovation in the right place.

[Calamity Jesus]

For safety reasons, I'd bet the battery packs will be spec. You don't want Jim-Bob burning the track surface down when he stuffs a lithium ion pack into his racecar without adequate cooling.