BMW has finally confirmed that it will be partnering with the Andretti Formula E racing team after months of speculation. It's reported that the announcement, which was made earlier today, is part of a huge restructuring of its motorsports program.
The partnership between the German car manufacturer and the racing team will last for two seasons according to The Verge. When it ends, BMW will evauate whether or not to fully run its own racing team in the all-electric racing series.
BMW has already participated in the Formula E series. Its i3 was used as a medical car and an i8 was used as safety car during previous series. But, this recent partnership is a much bigger news.
"Electric mobility will continue to grow in importance. In the last 10 years, we have established a leading position in the automobile industry in this field with BMW i," said Klaus Fröhlich, from the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development as quoted from Drive.
"Through our partnership with Andretti Formula E in the Formula E Championship, we will now additionally see a close interaction between motor racing and production development in our company, from which both departments will benefit."
Electric vehicles could be a big part of BMWs future plans, which is why it can benefit a lot on the technical level from the partnership with the e-racing team. It's also been reported that Formula E would be expanding to other cities like New York, this means more promotional opportunity for the company.
Formula E is the only auto racing that uses only electric-powered cars. Although it's been conceived in 2012, it has not been inaugurated until 2014. After about two years from its inaugural race in Beijing, the series has already attracted big names to participate.
Jaguar and Faraday Future also just recently joined the e-racing series. Citroën DS, NextEV, Mahindra and Renault have already snagged championships for themselves in previous Formula E seasons. Nissan is also rumored to be interested in joining as well.
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