Newsletter : A New Technical Challenge at the Pinnacle of Four-Wheeled Electric Motorsport --Pursuing Advances in Energy Management Technology together with Lola and ABT--

The FIA Formula E World Championship is a racing series run on street circuits with electrically powered open-wheel single-seat racing cars. The new Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team is competing in the series' 11th season, which kicked off on December 7th in São Paulo, Brazil. As part of our goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Yamaha Motor is supplying the team with the powertrain for the car in order to hone our energy management technology at the world's highest level.

■Series Newcomer: A British-Japanese-German Effort as "One Team"

The FIA Formula E World Championship is known as the Formula One for electric cars and runs races on street circuits around the world. The 11th season got underway on December 7th in São Paulo, Brazil, and this race was also the first outing for the new Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team in its inaugural campaign, with Yamaha Motor supplying the car's powertrain to Lola as a Technical Partner.
　"I feel that we have received a warm welcome as newcomers by both the organizers and our rival teams," said UMEDA, Yasunori, leader of the Formula E Development Group at Yamaha Motor. "I get the impression that there is a certain amount of respect and attention we're getting because of the three-way partnership of famous British racing marque Lola; Yamaha from Japan, which has competed in F1, MotoGP, and other leading series; and ABT from Germany, which has a wealth of experience in Formula E already. The expectations from those around us is humbling, but also reminds us of how we need to stay focused and determined."
　As a manufacturer of electric powertrains, Yamaha is responsible for developing and supplying the electric motors, inverters, and gearbox package to the team. Since all Formula E teams are required to use the same chassis and tires, the level of performance and control offered by the powertrain is one of the most important aspects of the championship. 

■Honing Energy Management Technology at the Highest Level

"Formula E is an extremely demanding, meticulous, and high-level competitive world," explains HARA, Takashi, who serves as Senior General Manager of the Automotive Development Section and is overseeing Yamaha's side of the project. "This challenge requires us to conduct development at a rapid pace under various strict limitations and we believe this will become a booster for our company's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We are also often asked why Yamaha is involved in car racing and this is the reason as well as the motivation for joining this project."
　The level of restrictions in place in Formula E can be seen in the capacity allowed for the batteries. While Formula One and MotoGP vehicles often race with their engines at full power, Formula E cars are limited to having about half the energy required to finish a race in their batteries. In other words, if the energy required to run a full race duration is "1," you must race while conserving the given energy of "0.5". "This is why energy management technology holds the key to success, and it's one technical area we want to hone," says Hara.
　In the pre-season test held in Spain prior to the opening round, Zane Maloney finished 13th (out of 22) on the timesheets. "We're feeling good about how we've done so far, but since our rivals already have a head start on us, we won't know their true strength until the season opener. We aim to continue growing and progressing throughout the season, and we hope to advance to a position where we can aim for the podium as soon as possible," stated a determined Umeda.





When talking about the subtleties of energy management, Hara-san spoke of "control on a meter-by-meter level." That was when I got a real sense of how strict the regulations are in Formula E. With motorcycles, we are drawing up electrification strategies for models that utilize batteries readily available today. In that sense, the energy management technologies we are honing at the pinnacle of electric motorsport will undoubtedly mean a great deal to Yamaha as a company.

HONMA, Naoko