This morning, the NIO 333 Racing team announced that they have committed to the next stage of Formula E, the Gen3 era.
The NIO 333 team have been involved, in various forms, with Formula E since the beginning where they were one of the first teams to sign on to the new all-electric series and as China Racing, saw Nelson Piquet Jr to the inaugural Drivers’ Championship title.
Before the sixth season, the team was bought by Shanghai Lisheng Racing, with previous owners NIO staying on as the title sponsor. For their first season, the NIO 333 team used an old powertrain and struggled through the year, ending with a best of 11th position. For the current season however, the new NIO 333 001 powertrain has seen the team pick up points in each of the four rounds so far.
“We have experienced the development of Formula E since its inception,” said NIO 333’s CEO, Vincent Wang. “And now, as it blossoms into an FIA World Championship, we welcome the evolution into its third generation. We joined many meetings with the FIA and Formula E regarding the Gen3 technical roadmap when we joined the Formula E family as 333 Racing last year.
“We are delighted to join the list of manufacturers that will continue in the series and we expect to see further change as Formula E develops; metabolism is the objective law of development. Formula E is still the best new-energy racing series featuring sustainable development, worldwide influence and is at the forefront of electric mobility technology innovation – we at NIO 333 Formula E Team are extremely proud to continue to be part of it.”
333 Racing and NIO join Mahindra, DS, Nissan and Porsche as the those that have publicly announced their future involvement in the series, while Jaguar are said to have signed up but are not ready to announce yet.
“333 Racing Team confirming their intention to compete in the Gen3 era is fantastic news,” said Formula E CEO, Jamie Reigle. “And further evidence of Formula E’s unique position as a global sport, technology proving ground and marketing platform. The team has made a strategic decision to build their own powertrain and control their competitive destiny.
“We look forward to working with the NIO 333 Formula E Team to develop the next phase of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. As a Chinese owned and operated team, 333 Racing will further our ambition of accelerating a shift to electric mobility in China and beyond.”
