Porsche Reportedly Mulls 2018 Formula E Entry

Porsche looks set to join the competition in newly established, all-electric racing series as soon as 2018.

Automakers Renault, Jaguar, and Audi are already participating in Formula E. And many others are rumored to be monitoring the newly established entity. That includes Porsche, who has reportedly kept close tabs on the all-electric racing series for a while now. So close, in fact, that Autosport reports that the automaker could join the series as soon as the 2018-2019 season.

According to Autosport, Porsche brass met with Formula E boss Alejandro Agag in Monaco last month to discuss the possibility. The group consisted of CEO Oliver Blume, board member Michael Steiner, and LMP1 team principal/technical chief Andreas Seidl.Ā Ā In addition to that meeting, additional Porsche staff met with Formula E personnel at last week’s Berlin ePrix.

“We received an invitation [to Monaco] from Alejandro Agag to have a look and experience Formula E for the first time,” Seidl told Autosport at Le Mans. “We just had an invitation to an interesting series, though maybe there are not enough technical freedoms yet.”

Porsche actually made a bid to become the battery supplier for all Formula E cars last year, but that contract was awarded to McLaren Applied Technologies and Lucid Motors. But their interest in the series reportedly intensified when FE confirmed that it would switch to a traditional, single car format in 2020. The current two-car format requires drivers to swap cars midway through each race.

With Porsche’s first all-electric road car — the Mission E Ā (pictured above) — due in 2020, it makes all the sense in the world for them to explore Formula E. Porsche has long used motorsports as a way to promote its road going cars. And in this case, the timing for such a moveĀ couldn’t be any better.

Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brandsā€™ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.
He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

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