10 teams and 8 manufacturers for the second season
Formula E is a championship with a single-seater car for the first year, but this will gradually change over the seasons, starting with the second one. Eight manufacturers have thus been authorized by the FIA.
The International Automobile Federation revealed that eight manufacturers had been authorized for the second season of Formula E, which will take place in 2015/2016. This confirms the status of this 100% electric single-seater discipline as a laboratory.
For the first season, still ongoing, the 10 teams use identical single-seaters – the Spark-Renault SRT_01E. But starting next season, the championship will open up to allow manufacturers to test their own technical solutions for powertrains, currently supplied by McLaren Electronic Systems.
However, in an effort to limit costs while allowing innovation in the field of electric automobiles, manufacturers will only be able to work on the powertrain initially. The rest of the parts will remain the same as today.
The FIA has therefore decided to select the following manufacturers – some of which are already present in Formula E this season:
– ABT Sportsline
– Andretti
– Mahinda
– Motomatica
– NEXTEV TCR
– Renault Sport
– Venturi Automobiles
– Virgin Racing Engineering
Starting from the third season, manufacturers will have the opportunity to develop new components, the batteries, so that drivers will use not two but only one car during an event from the fifth season of Formula E. This would significantly reduce costs while silencing critics of the limited range of electric cars.
Furthermore, the organizers of the Formula E championship have confirmed the presence of 10 teams – and therefore 20 single-seaters – for the next season, the same as for the inaugural season.
