BMW’s Formula E car will influence the next i8

By topgear, 18 September 2018

This is BMW’s brand new Formula E car. And if you’re not yet excited about motor racing without engine noise, then focus instead on the fact it’s heavily linked to BMW’s road cars. Specifically, its electrified i cars.  

That works both ways, too. So this car – the unsexily titled BMW iFE.18 – has had its electric innards developed and built by the same people as the BMW i3’s plug-in powertrain, but its clever construction could filter back to the next i sports car.

It’ll have a bit more power than an i3, mind. While BMW hasn’t released firm numbers, we’re promised double the performance in a setup that’s half the weight. With an electric i3 rated at about 170bhp, and next season’s Formula E cars set to produce around 335bhp in qualifying, the maths certainly checks out.

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So it’ll be quick. It looks quick too; BMW has taken into account how much closer spectators see Formula E cars compared to other race series, and designed its aesthetics to suit a different viewing angle.

Part X-wing fighter, part F22 Raptor, and with a weeny bit of BMW V12 LMR Le Mans car thrown in – the wheel arches and flashes of white, specifically – it looks fantastic. With season five of Formula E set to have more diversity in the looks and tech of cars, this is a promising sign of just how exciting the grid will appear.

The iFE.18’s s two drivers will be António Félix da Costa, a Formula E racer since the series began, and Alexander Sims, a British racer with lots of GT car experience, much of which has been in BMWs.

Formula E’s fifth season kicks off in December in Saudi Arabia.