Jaguar TCS won its first Formula E teams’ title on Sunday at the unique indoor/outdoor track at London’s ExCel Centre, marking the culmination of more than eight years of work since the carmaker first bet on electric racing.
It was a bittersweet victory for the Coventry-based luxury carmaker, with both its New Zealand drivers Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans scuppering their chances of winning the drivers’ championship, leading to scenes of devastation in the team’s VIP area.
The team found its emotions to celebrate the victory. And for Jaguar HQ officials, the win was a reminder of the brand’s hopes for a brand that will soon become fully electric.
Electric vehicles of tomorrow
The appeal of a racing team to a car manufacturer is obvious. It can reinvigorate an old brand, especially if it markets itself on speed and innovation. Race day is also a great opportunity to dine with customers.
They can also showcase their consumer cars, the big money maker behind the glamour of a racing team.
Speaking at the Financial Times The Future of the Automobile conference Last year, Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin boss He boasted about how his company had sold between 300 and 400 of its Vantage F1 Edition cars because a replica was used as F1’s safety car.
This would have represented about $80 million in revenue.
But most importantly, motor racing is a test bed for the cars that will one day cruise the highways of Europe.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which has committed to building only electric cars from next year, has naturally chosen Formula E as its test bed.
When JLR recruited James Barclay to become its first electric racing team principal in 2015, he says he and his team literally started with a blank sheet of paper.
Jaguar Racing via Getty Images
“We wanted to use it as a real-world testbed for electric vehicle technology,” Barclay said. Fortune during a round table on Friday.
“And that should be slightly ahead of on-road technologies on production vehicles.”
After eight years of work in the paddock, the car manufacturer is beginning to reap the benefits of these innovations in a rapidly evolving sector.
Last year, during the Monaco E-Prix, the team tested a “re-refined” transmission fluid developed by Castrol.
Silicon carbide semiconductor technologyfirst developed in Jaguar’s 2017 Formula E car, was rolled out to its commercial models in 2021.
“It pushes you to do things that normal development wouldn’t do, because you have to innovate to beat the competition,” Barclay said. Fortune.
Future innovations
Barclay estimates the time between discoveries on the Formula E track and their transformation into a commercial car, as was the case with his carbide technology, at around four years.
This is partly due to its partnership with team sponsors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), whose parent company also owns JLR.
Like JLR, TCS was present in F1 through a partnership with Ferrari, but abandoned it to focus on endurance through its sponsorship of marathons such as those in London and New York.
The team has since partnered with Jaguar in Formula E.
The manufacturer used a “Double digital” developed by TCS, which helps JLR run simulations with digital copies of the group’s cars and drivers.
“Technology in healthcare is extremely important,” says Abhinav Kumar, global marketing director, TCS.
According to Barclay, all of Jaguar and TCS’ innovations will lead to faster, more efficient and faster charging cars.
Last Sunday was the final time that the Jaguar TCS team brought its Jaguar I Type 6 Formula E car into the garage, making way for the carmaker’s next, more advanced iteration.
But before long, the powertrain, refined oil and innovative software used on the race track will leave their fingerprints on Jaguar roads around the world.
