Carbon-free competition brings the reality of e-mobility to São Paulo
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship checks off another milestone in its growth as a premier global motorsport with the first-time appearance of the series in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 25. The country’s status as a homeland to some of motorsport’s most successful drivers – world champions Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet among them – along with its legions of highly charged fans, makes it an imperative stop on the calendar of any top-echelon international racing series.
The setting for the high-energy action, Round 6 of Formula E’s ninth season, dovetails well with the goals set at the founding of the fully electric series. It is a temporary street circuit situated in one of the world’s most populous cities, a course of 3.0 kilometers (1.8 miles) comprising 11 turns. Making efficient use of the Anhembi Sambadrome outdoor event space, three lengthy straight sections of the course will showcase the 200 mph potential of the Gen3 racecars, at the same time testing the energy management strategies of the 11 teams on the grid.
In addition, the Brazilian Highlands location of São Paulo (800 meters elevation) and the possible warm and damp conditions, will add to the challenges faced by drivers adapting to the unfamiliar course and this season’s new tire compounds. But the passionate support of spectators in the grandstands may deliver an extra incentive for the Brazilians Lucas di Grassi, an ABB Ambassador who drives for Mahindra, and Sérgio Sette Câmara of NIO 333 Racing.
No less significant in its selection as a host for the sustainable, zero-emissions Formula E championship is the role of Brazil and the Amazon River basin in the health of our planet. Brazil has also made great strides in managing the petroleum dependency of its auto fleet by relying on ethanol derived from sugar cane as an alternative fuel.
The commitment of ABB to Brazil, where it has produced electrical components for nearly 70 years, is longstanding. This is especially true for the country’s sizeable renewable energy sector, where projects include reliability upgrades for the Copel Governador José Richa hydroelectric plant on the Iguazu River and installation of a 500 kilovolt digital substation for a solar park owned by Enel Green Power Brasil Participacoes. In a similar move, ABB has provided the management and power distribution system for Brazil’s largest producer of sustainable packaging paper, Klabin, for its Puma II project.
At the track, ABB’s expertise in support of sustainable mobility, and as a leader in DC fast charging systems, plays a critical role in Season 9. Through the 2023 campaign, ABB serves as the official charging partner of Formula E, responsible for replenishing the batteries of all 22 cars prior to each practice and qualifying session and most important, ahead of every race.
To meet this challenge, ABB developed new hardware that delivers DC fast charges with a compact unit that prioritizes reliable service and light weight. Delivering power at charging rates up to 160 kilowatts, the mobile chargers can service two cars simultaneously, reducing the amount of support gear that must travel with the cars between races.
Engineering solutions developed in the Formula E program are the basis for technology transfer that benefits drivers of road-going electric vehicles. The knowledge gained in motorsports is reflected in the recent introduction by ABB E-mobility of Terra Home chargers for EV owners. Among the chargers’ innovations is the capability to automatically prioritize the use of electricity from renewable sources, a key pathway to assuring the sustainability of electric vehicles. The Terra Home also brings features like Plug N Charge, which provides instant recognition between car and charger, as well as interactive lighting to indicate charging status.
The speed and unfamiliarity of the new race site, which is in the same area of São Paulo where the American IndyCar series raced a decade ago, may well shuffle the chances of drivers contending for the Formula E season championship. The previous round, in Cape Town, South Africa, presented a shake-up to the early season dominance of the points leaders, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis. Both Wehrlein, driving for the TAG Heuer Porsche team, and Dennis, of the Avalanche Andretti operation, failed to earn points in Cape Town, though they still come to São Paulo holding the first and second spots in the championship standings. But their zero-points finishes allowed former champions Jean-Éric Vergne of DS Penske and António Félix da Costa, the Cape Town winner driving for ABB partner team TAG Heuer Porsche, to narrow the points gap to the leaders.
The ABB Formula E championship next heads to a three-race European swing, beginning with a double header in Berlin followed by the tradition-rich Monaco race in May. The 16-round season returns to Europe in July to settle the championship battle with double-header races in Rome and London.
