Formula E teams using race series as a 'real world test bed' for future EV road cars

More than thirty years ago, motoring history was made in the French countryside as Nissan took a leap into the unknown at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Japanese brand fitted carbon discs and pads to their R88 C prototypes with the marque noticing immediate improvements.

Higher operating temperatures promised less stress and shorter braking distances and the move became a landmark event for motorsport.

Just over a decade later, the technology was on road cars onboard the 2000 Mercedes-Benz CL 55 AMG F1 Edition.

Racing has always been a future development ground for road car technology from the dawn of the combustion engine and the speed of progress is only accelerating.

Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) and hybrid technology refined on Formula One cars are now installed in many top-end hypercar machines.

However, Formula E is now leading the next generation and the FIA backed series could be a long-term breeding ground for the future of electric cars.

Established in 2014, Formula E was the idea of FIA boss Jean Todt and founder Alejandro Agag with the series quickly pulling in interest from all four corners of the globe.

The championship has come some way since that inaugural season when drivers were forced to swap cars halfway through a race while a DJ blasted tunes from a mix table.

Now, Formula E machines can complete the whole duration of a roughly 45-minute race with the power continuing to increase with each generation (Gen 3 models are capable of 250kW or around 470bhp).

The manufacturers soon arrived with Formula E experiencing its golden era with mass OEM support just half a decade into its life cycle.

Now at season 10, the championship has maintained serious constructor involvement from big brands serious about leading the EV market into the future.

Jaguar has participated in Formula E for almost a decade with its Jaguar TCS Racing crew finally picking up the Teams title in 2024.

Speaking to Express.co.uk ahead of the London E-Prix finale, team boss James Barclay admitted road car development was at the heart of the team's journey.

He explained: "When we announced our return to racing back in 2015. One of the reasons we said we'll come back into motorsport for Jaguar was we wanted to use it as a real world test bed for EV technology.

"And what we have seen after eight years of competing is this being a really important part of our programme.

"We knew being at the cutting edge of the pinnacle of electric racing would mean you have to push the boundaries of that technology, innovate, you'd have to drive new technologies, you'd have to work with partners to really get the best out of the car.

"Doing so is likely to be slightly ahead of the curve of automotive technologies in production vehicles and that is exactly what we have seen play out. One of the key pillars is the race-to-road strategy. We race to innovate."

Jaguar stressed all of the team's partners were helping to make innovations to their race cars and road car products.

Team partner Wolfspeed built Silicon Carbide semiconductors for Jaguar's race team which were fitted on the race cars in 2017.

Silicone carbide technology offers enhanced electrical properties such as higher breakdown voltage which leads to more efficient power conversion.

After refining the equipment at the track, Jaguar Land Rover announced in late 2022 that the next generation of electric models would use silicon carbide technology.

Meanwhile, James stressed the team had worked closely with Castrol to refine the oils which could be the next breakthrough off the production line.

Instead of throwing away oils after every race, the team have come up with solutions to capture it, refine it and reuse it without any loss of performance.

TCS's data delivery is also helping the squad to simulate situations to help save time coming up with set-ups and strategies when at the circuit.

James told Express.co.uk: "Our racing team is integrated into our broader business and vise versa. We have a structure which doesn't slow us down but it allows this ability to redevelop a new capability which makes us after through the races.

"Our core team can see what we've done and learn from that and apply that into future vehicles. Basically just being shoulder to shoulder with our core engineering teams where they can see where those breakthroughs are and they can take that learning."

Jaguar is hoping to go fully electric by 2025 with other manufacturers involved in the series also having serious long-term EV ambitions.

Japanese manufacturer Nissan has stressed a big part of their approach is fan engagement and making customers aware of the technology.

However, chief powertrain engineer, Tadashi Nishikawa, has admitted Formula E can help refine performance before it is adopted into passenger vehicles.

Until recently, Mercedes and BMW were also in the series but left to focus on F1 and World Sportscar Championship entries.

Porsche is another leading brand who have also used Formula E as a testbed as they aim to meet a new target of at least 80 percent fully electric by 2030.

The squad had a successful season as they picked up the Drivers crown in with ex-F1 star Pascal Wehrlein just edging out the Jaguar duo of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

Porsche Formula E team boss Florian Modlinger has previously claimed the level of competition was vital to developing high-performing components for vehicles.

The German marque has also used the series to develop its understanding of energy management and regeneration.

This came to fruition with the brand's all electric sportscar, the Porsche Taycan, now capable of 400kW of regeneration compared to its 290kW.

Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG stressed learning from the series was crucial.

He explained: "The evolution of racing vehicles shows how much development potential there is in e-mobility.

"Going forward, we want to glean even more knowledge from Formula E that we can transfer to our roadgoing sports cars. As one of the most competitive series in motor racing, it's already pushing us to achieve technological excellence."