After four seasons of providing safety and medical cars for the series, BMW is finally getting in on the action. It’s hard to believe that Formula E has already been around for more than three years since its first race in 2014. Since then, BMW has played a support role, supplying the races with i8 safety cars and i3 medical cars.
Shown here is Simona de Silvestro in her Andretti Formula E Racing Team car
BMW’s involvement is about to get a lot bigger, because for the 2018 season, the automaker will finally participate as a factory race team.
BMW Group announced today via a press release it will enter competition starting in the fifth season of Formula E. The automaker has received approval from the FIA, and the engineers in Munich are already working on a Formula E powertrain. BMW will team up with Andretti Autosport to develop software and chassis technology.
BMW joins eight other manufacturers including Jaguar, Renault, Penske Autosport, and NextEV in the ever-expanding series. Currently, drivers must switch cars mid-race thanks to limited battery range, but that should be alleviatedfor the 2018 season, just in time for BMW’s arrival