Jaguar I-Type 3 Puts On Racing Suit For Formula E

Panasonic Jaguar Racing has presented the concept livery for the I-Type 3 racer, which aims for the crown of the Formula E Championship’s season five that starts later this year.

It’s a Gen 2 car that benefits from a maximum power of up to 250kW (340PS / 335hp) available during qualifying and 200kW (272PS / 268hp) during the race. But more importantly, it uses improved batteries that allow the teams to move to one race car per driver, thus dropping the car-swapping technique.

One of the people in charge with driving the Jaguar I-Type 3 racer, Nelson Piquet Jr, is excited about it, after getting the chance to see what it’s like in a test event last month. “It was a big moment for the team, the champion and for electric vehicles. The car made a promising, reliable start, but there is a lot of development to do before we start racing at the end of this year”, said Piquet Jr.

For the moment, the son of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet, who was also an F1 driver and winner of the Formula E championship in 2015, has his eyes on the event in Rome, Italy, this Saturday, where the new Audi e-Tron Vision Gran Turismo will debut as race taxi. “Now my focus turns to Rome. I love new tracks and am up for the challenge”, he added.

The electric racing series is seen as a necessary asset by many big names within the automotive industry. Jaguar Land Rover, just like its rivals, will “take learnings from Formula E and directly transfer them from race to road to help shape future electric vehicles”, according to James Barclay, Team Director Panasonic Jaguar Racing. “In parallel, we remain very focused on this season, and continuing the positive progress we are making as a team.”

Jaguar is already present in the electric automotive scenery with the I-Pace. The zero-emission SUV is on sale in the United States, where it has a starting price of $70,495, before any incentives. Deliveries are expected to begin in the second half of the year.