BMW have confirmed that they will enter the Formula E championship as a full manufacturer from season five, supplying powertrains to Andretti in the process.
Following their application to enter the series earlier in the year, BMW have confirmed that they will enter the Formula E championship from the 2018/2019 season.
The German car giant has had involvement in Formula E since the inaugural season by supplying BMW i8’s and i3’s as safety cars and course cars.
They increased their interest through a technical partnership with the Andretti team for the start of season two, but have now further committed to the sport.
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt cited the technical advancements and the removal of the ‘car swap’ pit stops as the main reasons for their decision:
“Formula E has developed fantastically as a racing series and, as a new, technology-based project, is perfectly suited to the BMW Group and BMW Motorsport. Forging new paths and driving innovation – these are values shared by BMW and Formula E.
“The changes we required for our involvement will come into effect in Season 5 – these include, for example, the omission of the car changeover. We are already seeing in our development work that colleagues from the production and motorsport departments are collaborating in a completely new way.
“The series represents a completely new challenge for us – a challenge we are happy to take on together with Andretti Formula E. Andretti is the ideal partner for this mission. The name needs no introduction in international motor racing. Our cooperation is already working very well, and we look forward to taking the next steps together.”
