Jaguar Team Principal James Barclay believes the I-Type 3’s new in-house built powertrain will provide an advantage for the 2018/19 Formula E season.
At its launch last week, Jaguar revealed that for its third season it would be using a powertrain totally built in-house for the first time.
“We’ve felt it’s important to have control on all the items,” Barclay said.
“When you look at the whole vehicle design, particularly the powertrain, to control all the elements ultimately means you can set your plan and deliver it according to what you want.
“You have the control of the design and the final implementation so we think [it gives us an advantage]. From our perspective having that control and capability in-house, which we do have, it really key.”
Last season Jaguar scored its first podium and pole position with Mitch Evans, with the target now to be a regular podium contender for what will be its third season in the series.
The team’s race director Craig Wilson explained how an in-house powertrain would provide the benefits required to meet its higher targets:
“This is our third generation of powertrain but this is our first where we’ve developed it entirely in-house,” he said.
“That includes the motor generator unit, the inverter, the motor control unit, the carbon transmission casing and the differential. Everything is done in-house.
“That gives us the ability to package how we want it to be. It gives us the performance we can get with the weight and centre of gravity, the smaller details that maybe is not talked about so much in the formula.”
Jaguar will also be using silicon carbide inverters for the first time, a material first utilised by Venturi and later Andretti to make the powertrain lighter and more efficient.
“We’re using the latest silicon carbide control chips in the inverter which enables us to switch frequencies very quickly, control temperatures very well and also have a great degree of reliability. So it’s a very efficient device.”
