Michelin is parting ways with the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship following the 2021/22 season finale. With Hankook limbering up and ready to take over next year, the French tyre maker has looked back on its eight years with the championship, convinced that its work has “made a concrete contribution to the success enjoyed by Formula E today.”
The first Michelin tyre engineered to meet the specific handling and range requirements of electric sports cars will come to market from 1 April. Announcing the imminent launch of the Pilot Sport EV, Michelin shares that the tyre excels in a number of areas of key importance to drivers of electric performance vehicles – notably grip on wet and dry roads, resistance to wear, low rolling resistance and reduced noise.
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship has become the first sport to have a net zero carbon footprint since inception, investing in internationally certified projects in all race markets to offset emissions from six seasons of electric racing. Formula E’s announcement was made during the launch of Climate Week NYC 2020 and featured on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on 23rd September. Following the recommended approach set out by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Formula E has followed three key steps to achieve a net zero carbon footprint: effective measurement of carbon output, prioritising reducing its footprint and offsetting remaining unavoidable emissions.
Formula E, the all-electric street racing championship, provides an exciting and competitive platform for global car manufacturers and mobility providers to test and develop road-relevant technologies. The series aims to act as a catalyst to help refine the design of electric vehicles and improve the driving experience for everyday road car users all over the world. Commencing with double-header races in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia in late November 2019, Season 6 of Formula E concludes following a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a dramatic finale in Berlin held in a series of races over 6 days. DS Techeetah was successful in its retention of both the constructors’ and drivers’ titles on 9th August with two races still to take place on 12th and 13th August.
Michelin motorsport director Matthieu Bonardel has given his reaction to the announcement of a changing of the guard in the world’s premier battery-powered single-seater racing series. Despite Hankook’s move to replace Michelin as Formula E tyre supplier after the 2021/2022 season, the French manufacturer continues to believe that “sporting competition and sustainable mobility are inextricably linked.” Michelin was the tyre inaugural supplier to Formula E, which began in 2014/15, and has actively shaped the series as exclusive tyre partner ever since.
Hankook will supply tyres to Formula E as the series’ third generation tyre partner. The FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) confirmed Hankook after a tender process and FIA World Motor Sport Council approval. The world championship, which stages races in metropolitan areas around the globe, will run on “sustainably produced, particularly long-lasting and energy-saving Hankook tyres,” the manufacturer says. Tyres for Formula E have previously been supplied by Michelin, which was the series’ inaugural tyre partner.
As a replacement for suspended events during the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula E has launched its official eSports series on rFactor2 as a fundraiser. ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge, in support of UNICEF, staged its test round at the virtual Monaco ePrix circuit on 18 April 2020 at 15:30BST.
Ricardo is to begin manufacture of the latest range of transmission designs for the ABB FIA Formula E Championship 2020. This marks the start of the company’s fourth year of supporting customers in the world-leading all-electric street race competition.
Santiago, the capital city of Chile, welcomes the ABB FIA Formula E Championship this week where NIO is determined to make strong progress and challenge for points during round three of the Season 5 campaign.
ABB FIA Formula E Championship team NIO has announced Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua will continue as the squad’s official reserve driver for Season 5. The 30-year-old from Shanghai will again be an integral part of NIO throughout the current campaign, which began in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, 15 December 2018.
Jamie Chadwick, the only female driver to win a British Formula 3 Championship race, will make a high-profile test debut with ABB FIA Formula E Championship team NIO in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday 16 December – the day after the opening e-Prix of Season 5. NIO said that it is determined to help provide key opportunities on the international stage for the best young female racing talent, confirming 20-year-old Chadwick for the six-hour test at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit. The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) ‘Rising Star’, from Tetbury in Gloucestershire, will pilot the NIO 004 chassis.
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London played host recently to the glittering official launch of the NIO team’s 2018/2019 ABB FIA Formula E Championship programme, where the squad revealed a new driver line-up for Season 5, a new official partner and, of course, a brand new car.
The new-generation Michelin Pilot Sport tyre set to debut in the 2018/19 Formula E season will be lighter, more energy efficient and bear an even closer resemblance to road tyres than the first-generation Michelin tyre. Its introduction accompanies changes to vehicle technical specifications that come into effect at the start of the all-electric racing series’ fifth season.
Three seasons of exclusive tyre supply to the FIA Formula E Championship are already under Michelin’s belt and a fourth begins tomorrow. We can look forward to at least four more years of Michelin supply to the electric race series as well; the tyre maker and the FIA have announced an extension of the supply agreement up to the end of the 2020/21 season. Furthermore, while the Pilot Sport EV2 tyre launched at the start of season three returns for 2017/18, the French manufacturer confirms it is already working on tyres for the new-look next generation car, which will make its debut a year from now in season five.
Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport’s Lucas di Grassi is the new Formula E Champion after securing a comfortable points’ finish in the season finale at the Hydro-Quebec Montreal ePrix.
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