Porsche showcases updated 99X Electric Formula E car
Porsche has showcased its Formula E car for the next two seasons – the updated Porsche 99X Electric. The all-electric open-wheel racer complies with the GEN3 Evo regulations and features various other improvements.
The key technical updates include its ability to power the front wheels in certain scenarios, tires with increased grip and a modified front wing. World champion Pascal Wehrlein and his teammate António Félix da Costa will retain their positions as the drivers for the works TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. The two Andretti Formula E customer cars will have former world champion Jake Dennis and the new Porsche works driver Nico Müller at the wheel.
Porsche says that its development department in Weissach in Germany optimized the powertrain to comply with new regulations that relate to the standardized hardware of all teams and manufacturers taking part. Front-wheel drive may be engaged during qualifying duels, race starts and Attack Mode, giving the cars temporary all-wheel drive capability, enabling the Porsche 99X Electric to accelerate to 100km/h in about two seconds.
Higher-performance tires will be supplied by Hankook, the exclusive supplier for Formula E cars. To reduce the footprint, each car will still only have two sets of tires available per race weekend (three sets for double-headers). The tires are suitable for dry and wet conditions. Other updates to the car include a modified front wing and modifications to the cladding behind the roll bar and in front of the rear wheels.
There are two new colors on offer based on the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT – Purple Sky Metallic and Shade Green Metallic. Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, said, “We build future sports cars so we also want our appearance to be progressive. The young and innovative Formula E is an excellent platform for promoting our electric production sports cars.”
Florian Modlinger, Porsche’s factory director for Motorsport Formula E, added, “The biggest development task was and is the implementation of the temporary all-wheel drive. Since the hardware was already available for GEN3, a huge amount of work has gone into aligning the software.”
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