After a successful first season for the FIA's Formula E, the fully-electric racing series is back for Season Two, which kicked off just a couple of weeks ago with the first race in Beijing. And BMW is back as the official vehicle partner of the series, providing an i8 as the race's safety car and an i3 as a medical car.
“BMW i and Formula E make a great match,” said Jörg Reimann, vice president BMW brand experience. “BMW has been involved in Formula E from the word go. It signed up as the official vehicle partner to supply the BMW i8 Safety Car and BMW i3 Medical Car. And this commitment has given the company a platform on which to press its claim as a leader in electric mobility. We’ve succeeded in bringing the driving pleasure for which BMW is renowned to the attention of millions of people in major cities around the world. The ball is very much rolling now; in 2014 and 2015 we laid the foundations for a successful partnership, and it’s one which will continue into the second season of the championship in 2015-2016.”
The BMW i8 Safety Car is not just for show either as the car has had some significant modifications including modified chassis mount points and upper wishbones, custom-made Bilstein springs and dampers, 15 mm lowered chassis, 20” ATS racing rims with 245 width fronts and 285 rears wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport sports tires, six-piston brake calipers at the front and four-piston at the rear, multiple aerodynamic modifications, and a full FIA-certified roll cage.
The BMW i8 Safety Car is the world’s first vehicle to offer 7.2 kW inductive charging based on Qualcomm Halo prototype technology. The Qualcomm Halo 7.2kW wireless charging system delivers twice the amount of energy to the BMW i8’s batteries per hour which approximately halves the full charge time, enabling the vehicle to fully charge in one hour.
Take a ride around the Beijing ePrix track with CEO of Fia Formula E Alejandro Agag and Formula E safety car driver Bruno Correia in the BMW i8 Safety Car:
You can root on BMW Motorsport driver Antonio Felix da Costa at the next ePrix which will be held in Punta del Este, Uruguay on December 19. The series will return to the U.S. and the historic streets of Long Beach on April 2, 2016.—Nate Risch
