Formula E improves EV road cars, says Jaguar

Jaguar has defended its investment in the electric open-wheeler Formula E series, stating that it delivers direct benefits to its electric road car program.

The first premium car-maker to join the all-electric racing series, Jaguar last week said the financial challenges of COVID-19 hadn’t dulled its commitment to Formula E.

The 2020 ABB FIA Formula E series is set to restart in August in Berlin. Meantime, Jaguar this week rolled out details of its 2021 model I-PACE electric SUV. The company is also set to launch a new all-electric flagship XJ limousine – perhaps as early as August.

Interviewed as part of the 2021 I-PACE launch, Panasonic Jaguar Racing boss James Barclay called Formula E “perfectly aligned” to the brand’s EV efforts.

“Racing remains really core to Jaguar DNA and… using racing to improve the breed [means] it [Formula E] is very relevant to the future…

“For Jaguar [Formula E’s] perfectly aligned with our electric feature both via technical advances but now [as a] transfer from a racetrack to road and vice versa -- to improve our road part for the future… And at the same time also support this shift of mobility towards electrification.”

Jaguar I-PACE vehicle engineering boss, Steve Boulter, also on-hand for the 2021 model unveil, delivered practical examples of how the electric Jaguar SUV had benefited from the brand’s involvement in Formula E.

‘We’re learning at the speed of racing and it enables better results for our customers. We’ve focused more than ever on software than systems to make the difference in our [road and racing] vehicles and we do most of that development in-house.

“The updated I-PACE is the perfect example of how racing experience allows us to bring customer more updates and improvement really, really fast,”

Modified versions of the Jaguar I-PACE feature in the Formula E support category, the Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy. Boulter says gains made on the racing crossovers have fed into changes for the I-PACE road car.

“The sort of things we did was update the torque distribution between the front and the rear motors. So, this has affected how much power are we putting to the front and the rear motors and that actually gave us more efficiency... And we’ve also been able to unlock more regenerative braking… by developments on the racetrack,” he explained.

Boulter says better understanding cooling requirements via the eTrophy race cars means the road car’s active radiator fins can be kept closed longer.

“We also developed new battery management software [via racing]. We had data that we simply didn’t have from anywhere else -- so we were really able to get that to the customer really quickly.”

Boulter confirmed advances with Jaguar’s I-TYPE Formula E open-wheeled racer also flows through to the company’s road EVs.

Jaguar Communications Director, Andre Oosthuizen, stated: “[Formula E’s] battery and the powertrain tech is so fast in its development. From race to race, almost, there’s new advancement which you want to take into account and learn from.

“That’s one of the fundamental drivers, why we decided to get involved [in Formula E]. We want to compete at the highest level. And particularly today, hopefully towards the back of the COVID-19 situation, if you are to ask us if we weren’t in Formula E, we certainly would be considering it. It’s fundamentally important.”

The 12-round 2021 ABB FIA Formula E series is expected to kick off in Chile in January and run through to its London finale in July.

Berlin’s restart of the 2020 series will be a further contraction of EV racing development schedules with six races in nine days deciding the title. The German capital’s historic Tempelhof Airport will host three double-header events, expected to be on different track layouts, on August 5-6, 8-9 and 12-13.

Some observers are suggesting it’s here that Jaguar will debut the new XJ – at least in some form or perhaps via an on-location teaser. Germany is a key market for the Jaguar flagship

Oosthuizen again: “The Jaguar XJ has been our flagship model for more than five decades… It’s designed, engineered and built at our home base, the mothership in the UK, and exported to about 120 countries, so it’s a very important car for us.

“The all new XJ, which will be in ninth generation, builds on the successful characteristics which are synonymous with the XJ – which we think of as dramatically beautiful design, intelligent performance and as you’d expect from a Jaguar, highly relevant luxury.

“So, today our engineers are continuing the research in development and yes, we look forward to speaking to the media very soon,” he hedged.