Formula E picks new powertrain manufacturers

Renault Sport and five of the teams currently contesting the first  FIA Formula E Championship are among the eight new manufacturers accredited to produce powertrains from 2015-'16.

The second season will see Formula E begin its move away from the control Spark-Renault SRT_01E package, which is powered by a McLaren Electronic Systems unit.

Already a technical partner and represented in the series through e.DAMS, Renault has been selected following an FIA bidding process, along with ABT Sportsline, Andretti, Mahindra, Venturi Automobiles and Virgin Racing Engineering. Newcomers Motomatica and NEXTEV TCR complete the lineup. All eight will be free to develop powertrains through a bespoke e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system.

The remainder of the package will remain unchanged, with batteries the next stage of Formula E's evolution in the third season. By the fifth, that development is expected to see drivers use a single car in each race.

"One of our objectives from the beginning was to promote technology competition but we cannot do that as organisers of the championship, we need 'actors' to join and to develop technologies to fight against each other in the races," Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, said.

"Through this fight we improve the technology and then with this improved technology we improve electric cars in general. We expect more manufacturers to join from season three onwards and we're already talking with many different manufactures and also OEMs."

The new powertrains are expected to start testing mid-year.

Originally on Autosport.com