Spark Racing Technology approved by FIA to produce cars for Formula E

Spark Racing Technology today announced they’d created a consortium of companies that together will produce the electric race cars for the Formula E racing series. A decision by the FIA World Council on June 28, 2013 formally approved SPARK’s application for homologation as the supplier of all the electrical single-seaters to the first season of Formula E Championship.

SPARK will provide 42 cars Spark-Renault powered solely by electricity to compete in the heart of major cities all over the world.

The consortium includes the companies we already know have been involved with parts of designing and building these cars. These are:-

Renault: Powertrain architecture, systems integration, powertrain electrical safety & performance optimization
Williams: Design, manufacture and assembly of batteries and their battery management systems.
McLaren Electronic Systems: Development, manufacture and supply of electric motor, gearbox and power & control electronics.
Dallara: Design and construction of the monocoque
SPARK: Car design and conception (chassis, aerodynamics, assembly, suspension)

Patrice RATTI (CEO Renault Sport Technologies): “As a global leader for the production of electric vehicles and with a unique expertise in motorsports ever since the company was founded, the choice of Renault as technical partner to develop the fully electric SRT_01E car for the FIA Formula E championship was obvious.

Renault engineers and motorsport experts are directly contributing to the overall powertrain architecture and are in charge of electric systems’ specifications and integration, benefiting from the experience acquired while developing the new 2014 Renault-Energy-F1 Power Unit.

Renault is also working with Spark to enhance the performance and safety level of the SRT_01E car powertrain. The objective is to design an outstanding racecar that will be clean, reliable, safe as well as fast and responsive.”

Sir Frank WILLIAMS (Team Principal – Williams): “Williams Advanced Engineering, the division of the Williams group that commercialises Formula One based technologies, will design and assemble a battery system for all 42 cars that will be used in the FIA Formula E Championship. Williams’ battery energy storage capability first originated from its Formula One programme following the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) into the sport in 2009. Under the Williams Advanced Engineering brand name, Williams is now active in developing both battery and flywheel energy storage systems for motorsport and non-motorsport applications.”

Tim STRAFFORD (Business Development Manager – McLaren Electronics Systems): “McLaren Electronic Systems is proud to be developing, manufacturing and commissioning the all electric powertrain, including electric motors, motor drives, gearboxes and control systems, that will power the open wheel racing cars contesting this new and innovative championship. This will draw on our expertise accrued over two decades supplying advanced electronic and powertrain systems into professional motorsport and high performance road cars. McLaren Electronic Systems is the Official Supplier of Engine Control Units to Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar. The company is a two times winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, for Innovation in 2009 and for Export in 2013.”

Andrea PONTREMOLI (CEO – Dallara Automobili): “With our single seater cars running successfully in the most important categories and championships all over the world, we could not lose the opportunity to be part of the new Formula E exciting challenge and we are very thankful to our long term partner Fred Vasseur for the credit he gave us. We will use all our experience and know how to design and build the best possible chassis in terms of performance, reliability, ease of use and safety. The safety aspect is particularly important for us and we are working hard with Spark and the FIA to set new safety standards for such an innovative championship.”

Alejandro AGAG (CEO of Championship promoter Formula E Holdings): “With Formula E being an open championship, the series gives manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their electrical energy innovations and we’re delighted to have Spark Racing Technology as the first, and for them to produce our new fully-electric Formula E car. Spark has enlisted the very best companies in motorsport to aid with its development, with Dallara, Renault, McLaren and Williams all leaders in their respective fields. This clearly shows their commitment to cleaner energy and sustainable mobility, and we’re looking forward to unveiling the first SRT_01E later this year.”

Frédéric VASSEUR (President of Spark Racing Technology): “I am extremely proud and happy to work with the partners SPARK has gathered together to form this unique consortium, a first in the history of motorsport. I regard each and every one of these partners with the highest esteem, I have worked with them throughout my career and they have accompanied me in a lot of the successes I have been fortunate to achieve in my other activities in the traditional motorsport. All consortium members are driven by a motivation to make this innovative project a success. The project is progressing well; we are on schedule and strictly adhering to our specifications. The first car will be officially presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and the first outing will be in the following month.”

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About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.