Jaguar today announced its return to global motorsport. In the autumn of 2016, the British carmaker says it will enter the third season of the FIA Formula E Championship as a manufacturer with its own team.

Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric powered cars and will presumably offer an opportunity for Jaguar Land Rover to further the development of future EV powertrain technology.

“Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover’s future product portfolio and Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies. The Championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions,” said Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover.

“It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades. The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase.”

Jaguar Land Rover currently employs over 8,000 engineers and is said to be the UK’s largest investor in research and development across any business sector.

The company’s race team will work with Williams Advanced Engineering, who partnered with Jaguar on the development of the C-X75 plug-in hybrid concept car.

Source: Jaguar

Tags: electric racing car, EV, FIA, Formula E, Jaguar, Jaguar Land Rover, motorsport, Nick Rogers, racing, Williams Advanced Engineering