French KERS with five teams
2011 saw the return of KERS, the kinetic energy recovery system released during heavy braking, which allows for a temporary increase in power available to the drivers. For five teams on the grid, KERS is provided by Saft, a French specialist in the design and manufacturing of high-tech batteries for the industry.
Among these five teams, we can find some headline names since Ferrari and Lotus Renault GP are mentioned in the statement released by the French company. This detail suggests that it is highly unlikely that Red Bull, McLaren, or Williams have Saft technology, as they would not have failed to announce it if that were the case.
This is easily explained in the case of Williams and McLaren, each of which has set up a technology applications service that allows them to sell externally the technologies developed within the framework of Formula 1 competition. For instance, Williams has already licensed its technology to Porsche, which uses it on its GT3 R Hybrid competition car.
The logic behind Saft’s commitment to Formula One is to showcase its expertise and establish itself as a sector reference, as stated by Xavier Delacroix, general manager of Saft’s IBG division: “Our solutions for the KERS project demonstrate our ability to provide cutting-edge technologies for the most complex and performance-demanding applications, even when deadlines are extremely tight. Our goal is to make our Li-ion batteries a benchmark in the Formula One field.”
France, through its national manufacturers and suppliers, has clearly positioned itself in the emerging segment of electric vehicles and possesses the technical and commercial expertise that could make it one of the world leaders.
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
