Tata Motors owned Jaguar brand has announced a return to the world of motor racing in 2016 with its team’s entry into the FIA Formula E Championship.
Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric powered cars and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to use it as a test bed for future real world electric cars that will be rolled out from the their factories.
The team will be ready to race in the September 2016 season and further details of team name and drivers will be announced by summer next year.
JLR group engineering director Nick Rogers at a press launch in London said:“I see this as Jaguar’s technology adventure. We firmly believe that electrification is the future and we plan to deliver a portfolio of electric vehicles. The championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions.
“It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades. The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase. Formula E has recognised and reacted to these trends and the championship's exciting and pioneering approach is the perfect fit for our brand.”.
The Formula E team will draw upon JLR’s over 8,000 engineers, who will be able to crucially use the experience to extract data and push the boundaries of electric technology in a performance environment.
