voestalpine to be main sponsor of European Formula E racing

8 May 2018 |

voestalpine will be a partner to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in its European races for an initial period of two years starting with the 2018/2019 season. Titled the “voestalpine European Races”, the world’s first electric street racing series will be run in European cities including Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Monte Carlo among others - pending publication of next season’s calendar. This takes voestalpine into a completely new sponsoring category, one with its own rankings and a trophy in the fifth (2018/19) and sixth (2019/20) seasons of Formula E.

Petrolheads are passé: it will be the most powerful racing cars with the world’s best electric motors setting the pace in motorsport in the near future. Formula E is already spearheading this technological revolution. As an internationally successful street racing series, they not only offer that pure racing feeling, but also capture the spirit of the times with their pioneering and sustainable drive technology. The technology and capital goods group voestalpine is the perfect partner, having for many years been a driving force behind tomorrow’s mobility with its constant innovations and product solutions. Now the Group is once again highlighting its leading technological position in the dynamic electromobility market, and entering into a new form of international cooperation.

Pole position in electromobility

Based on its innovative solutions for the automotive industry, solutions which for decades have repeatedly proved their worth, voestalpine has also succeeded in manoeuvring itself into pole position in the pioneering electromobility segment over the past years.

Accounting for around a third of our Group revenue, for years the automotive industry has been a key driver of innovation and growth at voestalpine. With our comprehensive automotive expertise we see huge potential to grow faster than in the traditional segments, especially in the electromobility sector. Both Formula E and voestalpine are international pioneers when it comes to literally putting tomorrow’s technologies on today’s roads, and making them ready for series production. The aim of our partnership with Formula E is to jointly develop electromobility further, as well as to encourage technology transfer between automotive suppliers, manufacturers, and customers.

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG

Formula E and voestalpine: innovation is in their DNA

This makes Formula E not only a motorsport highlight, but effectively also a development laboratory which supplies valuable findings and trends for the future of electromobility.

Formula E is the most relevant platform to trial and test the latest technological innovations in the automotive sector and partnering with leading companies such as voestalpine allows the series to further develop in the field of electromobility. Both brands have a shared strategic focus tailored towards dynamism, speed, and creativity. I look forward to working closely with voestalpine for the European races in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship from next season and continuing to set future mobility Trends.

Alejandro Agag, Founder & CEO of Formula E

voestalpine technologies increase the efficiency of electric vehicles

voestalpine is already a leading global supplier of electrical steel, an advanced pre-material used in the manufacture of electric motors. As a result of intensive research and development work over the past years, a new production technique has just recently been made ready for series production in which layers of wafer-thin high-tech electrical steel are bonded to form special components for electric motors, significantly increasing the output efficiency of the electric powertrain compared to earlier designs. voestalpine is also regarded as a technology leader in the production of ultra high-strength yet increasingly lightweight body parts which help to significantly extend the range of electric vehicles by reducing their overall weight. The Group also already supplies extremely lightweight and secure components for battery casings.

The ABB FIA Formula E Championship

The ABB FIA Formula E Championship is the electric street racing series and the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater category in motorsport. Formula E brings electrifying wheel-to-wheel action to some of the world’s leading cities, racing against the backdrop of iconic skylines such as New York, Hong Kong, Paris, and Rome.

The inaugural season of Formula E sparked into life in September 2014 around the grounds of the Olympic Park in Beijing. The fourth edition of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship will see 10 teams and 20 drivers compete in 10 cities spanning five continents in the fight to be crowned champion. Hong Kong hosted the season-opener over the course of two days on December 2 & 3, with the championship coming to a close in New York in July.

Formula E is more than just a race to be the best—it’s a competitive platform to test and develop road relevant technologies, helping refine the design and functionality of electric vehicle components and speeding-up the transition and uptake of clean transportation on a global scale.

For this season, more manufacturers have joined the electric revolution with reigning champion Lucas di Grassi looking to defend his title for the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team. More big-name manufacturers have also committed to race in Formula E—including BMW and Nissan in tandem with the new-look car and battery in season five, along with Mercedes-Benz and Porsche who also plan to join the following year.

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The voestalpine Group

In its business segments, voestalpine is a globally leading technology and capital goods group with a unique combination of materials and processing expertise. This global Group comprises about 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. It has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality products and system solutions using steel and other metals, the voestalpine Group is one of the leading partners of the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe as well as the aerospace and oil & natural gas industries worldwide. voestalpine is also the world market leader in turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In the business year 2016/17, the Group generated revenue of EUR 11.3 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.54 billion; it had about 50,000 employees worldwide.