As the 2019/20 season began in Saudi Arabia, Schaeffler and Audi announced their agreement to remain Formula E technology partners.
Schaeffler and Audi have enjoyed phenomenal success since the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team made its debut in the inaugural 2014/15 series, notching up 12 wins, 40 podium places and more than 1,000 points, culminating in both Driver and Teams’ championship triumphs in 2016/17 and 2017/18 respectively.
Initially a partner to the ABT Sportsline team, Audi became a factory team in 2017, and Schaeffler began developing the drivetrain that would form the basis of a championship charge.
The new agreement means Schaeffler continues its role as a technology and development partner, focusing primarily on the transmission, engine and drive concept development. It will also provide support in test rig-based work and prototype construction, as well as bearing enhancement and production.
‘Perfect combination’
“Schaeffler, Audi, and Formula E are a combination that was perfect from the very start”, explains Matthias Zink, CEO Automotive OEM at Schaeffler. “As a company, our intention is to use our drive train and chassis technologies to innovatively shape sustainable mobility. Formula E is an ideal platform on which to present these ideas for future electric mobiliy and measure our performance in a competition of the highest sporting caliber. And at the same time, our involvement has been delighting both fans and employees alike for years.”
“I am delighted that the formidable team of Audi and Schaeffler will continue during the next few years”, enthuses Dieter Gass, Audi’s head of motorsport. “We have already achieved a great deal together, but the ever-increasing performance density in Formula E means we still have huge challenges ahead of us. The fact that we are able to join forces and tackle the development of the Audi e-tron FE07 for season seven as an experienced team is therefore of major significance.”
Test bed
For Schaeffler, this electric racing series is the ideal test laboratory for developing mobility solutions for tomorrow. The copany believes the technology winners in that arena can later hope to be among the leaders in the volume production race.
“Formula E gives us a wealth of expertise, which we then transfer from the race track to our development departments”, explains Jochen Schröder, head of Schaeffler’s E-Mobility business division. “The relevance of this expertise in the fields of comprehensive drive systems, electric motors, power electronics, and transmissions is already demonstrated by the Schaeffler electric axle drives that we have been producing for the Audi e-tron since 2018, and this expertise is also being integrated into electric drive systems and components for the future that are currently in volume production development at Schaeffler.”
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