Tata's Jaguar returns to motor racing with Formula E

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar brand on Tuesday announced a return to the world of motor racing with its team’s entry into the FIA Formula E Championship next year.

Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric-powered cars and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to use it as a test bed for future real world electric cars to be rolled out from the British luxury car-makers’ factories. "I see this as Jaguar’s technology adventure. We firmly believe that electrification is the future and we plan to deliver a portfolio of electric vehicles. The championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions," said JLR group engineering director Nick Rogers here. "It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades.

"The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase," he explained.

The team will be ready to race in the September 2016 and further details of team name and drivers will be announced by May-June next year. It will build on Jaguar's history in motorsport, including a run in the Formula 1 championship between 2000 and 2004.

The brand achieved considerable success in the 1950s during the Le Mans 24-hour races and in the 1980s, the company also raced an XJ-S in the European Touring Car Championship.

Alejandro Agag, CEO for Formula E, said: "Jaguar is a brand with a rich sporting heritage and the fact that it is returning to global motorsport with Formula E is a huge endorsement of the championship and its ability to influence the development of electric cars.

"Jaguar brings with it a passionate fan base that will drive the popularity of the championship across the world and once again shows that Formula E is the future of motorsport." The Formula E team will draw upon JLR’s over 8,000 engineers, who will be able to crucially use the experience to extract data and push the boundaries of electric technology in a performance environment.

Williams Advanced Engineering will be the technical partner to the Jaguar Formula E Team and provide extensive motorsport knowledge, combined with high performance EV Systems experience.