Teams gets revved up ahead of ABB FIA Shanghai Formula E World Championship

Chris Shortt, Jaguar TCS Racing Operations Manager, gave a media tour of its garage on Friday, ahead of the race of the Formula E which will be held in Shanghai over the weekend, hoping to help the public better understand the sport.

After four full seasons away, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returns to the country where it all began. Altogether 22 drivers prepare to hit the tarmac of the iconic Shanghai International Circuit for rounds 11 and 12 of season 10.

The garage, which can accommodate two racing cars, is a place for each team to adjust and prepare their cars.

"When we arrive, all of the teams get access to the garages at the same time. So the race quite literally starts as soon as we arrive here because we want to get the garages built as quickly as possible so we can get working on the cars and improving our performance for the race," Shortt said.

Then a test drive will be arranged to allow teams to get familiar with the track by collecting data, such as temperature, viscosity and turns.

"Even though a number of the drivers have already driven here at the Shanghai Circuit, the Formula E is a very different championship. They need to understand exactly how to get the most out of this track for our Formula E cars, going into some of the corners and the lines, the strategy will be very different from anything they've done before," he added.

For Formula E teams, improving energy efficiency is crucial since energy regeneration is the goal of the tournament, aimed at creating green and sustainable races.

"During the race, our cars have the ability to regen up to 40 percent of the energy that we will use throughout the entire race, so we would only make 60 percent of the distance if we didn't have any regen. The remaining 40 percent comes from regenerative braking as we go around a circuit," Shortt said.

He further explained that Formula E only has one type of tire for all the racing cars, which substantially reduces the amount of tires to transport around the world for the championship and is easy to recycle after the races.

Since 2020, in a bid to promote sustainability, Jaguar TCS Racing has partnered with material science company Dow. Dow's MobilityScience™ team is helping Jaguar TCS Racing integrate next-generation materials to advance the performance, safety and efficiency of the Jaguar all-electric race car.

"We're committed to helping the team unlock innovations in the form of circular and renewable options for materials and have already identified opportunities to either maintain or improve performance while lowering carbon footprint," said Jon Penrice, president of Dow's MobilityScience™ .