BMW have officially announced their partnership with the Andretti Formula E team following months of speculation after the announcement of BMW-contracted driver Antonio Felix da Costa joining the American team for season three of the Formula E Championship.
The German manufacturer already provides a range of fully-electric vehicles to the series, including the safety car (BMW i8) and the medical car (BMW i3), and this new partnership will be used by BMW to familiarise themselves with the series and to weigh up the possibility of them joining the series as a works team in the future.
A BMW works team could appear in the series as early as season five (2018-19) if the series continues to develop and BMW’s two-year deal with Andretti goes to plan.
BMW boss Jens Marquardt had this to say about the partnership: “Over the coming years, the cooperation with Andretti Formula E will primarily focus on familiarising ourselves with the procedures and processes, and on intensifying our knowledge. Our works driver Antonio Felix da Costa will be in action behind the wheel. A works involvement is then conceivable as of the series’ fifth season. The premise for all these steps is the further positive development of the series, which includes increasing the capacity of the batteries, for example.”
The announcement of the BMW-Andretti partnership now means every team minus Techeetah has a manufacturer partnership, as BMW join Audi, DS, Faraday Future, Renault, Jaguar, Mahindra, NextEV and ZF in the electric series.
