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voestalpine joins Formula E on the starting line for the first time

5 December 2018 | 

This coming season marks the start of Austrian technology group voestalpine’s partnership with the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the emerging and already highly successful fully-electric street racing series. voestalpine will lend its name to the races that will take place in Europe, which will form part of the “voestalpine European Races”.

The new Formula E season - starting on December 15 - heralds many innovations: a new race car, a more powerful battery enabling the races to be run without a change of car, “attack mode” higher power level visible to the viewers with LED lighting on the car, and the “voestalpine European Races”.

The starting signal for the European season will be given in Rome on April 13. Four races later, after Paris, Monaco, Berlin and Bern, the driver who has collected the most points in all the European races will will be awarded a trophy, produced by voestalpine itself using special 3D printing technology, at the end of the last European race in Bern. If this Formula E “Grand Slam” had existed last year, the trophy would have gone to Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver Lucas di Grassi.

Diverging from traditional pathways has been voestalpine’s consistent leitmotif. That’s why the company is entering into a motor racing partnership for the first time in its corporate history.

The Formula E motor is electric. voestalpine already manufactures highly innovative products used in electric motors, including high-tech electrical steel and rotor components which serve to extend an electric vehicle’s range. The Group also supplies extremely lightweight and secure components for battery casings. The international racing series of a new generation, one which embodies both the future and sustainability, brings the excitement of motorsport directly to city dwellers in urban centers.

That’s why Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG, believes Formula E is the perfect partner.

Wolfgang Eder

Together with Formula E, we want to develop tomorrow’s electromobility further, preparing these pioneering technologies for mass production. We also want to continue encouraging technology transfer between automotive suppliers, manufacturers, and developers. Through the voestalpine European Races we intend to present the end customer—who will use these mobility solutions—with the vision of an environmentally friendly form of mobility, one which is increasingly becoming reality.

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG

Will one driver succeed in winning all five of the voestalpine European Races to take home the Grand Slam of Formula E in its very first year? We’ll know the answer on June 22, 2019.

voestalpine and Formula E

The Austrian technology group voestalpine will be a partner to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship for an initial period of two years starting from the 2018/2019 season. The company is lending its name to all the races run in Europe, and presents the “voestalpine European Races”. The starting signal will be given in Rome on April 13, and then the European leg will gather pace with races in the heart of the cities of Paris (April 27), Monaco (May 11), and Berlin (May 25). The chequered flag will be waved on June 22, in Bern. At that final point we’ll know which of the 22 drivers will be the best-performing driver across the “voestalpine European Races” in 2019. In Bern, the winner of the five European races will be awarded a trophy produced by voestalpine using special 3D printing technology.

The voestalpine Group

In its business segments, voestalpine is a globally leading technology group with a unique combination of material and processing expertise. voestalpine, which operates globally, has around 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, it is one of the leading partners to the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe as well as to the aerospace and oil & gas industries worldwide. voestalpine is also the world market leader in turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In the business year 2017/18, the Group generated revenue of around EUR 13 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of almost EUR 2 billion; it has around 51,600 employees worldwide.