Ford Continues EV Racing Talks

Photo: Drew Gibson/Ford

Ford has continued to evaluate the EV racing landscape, with deadlines looming on the potential participation in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship and proposed FIA Electric World Rallycross Championship.

The American manufacturer, which is involved in discussions in both series, as well as at least two emerging all-electric championships, is understood to be facing a program decision for as early as 2020.

An entry into Formula E, as first revealed by e-racing365 last year, needs to be declared by next month in order to debut in the 2019-20 season with a customer powertrain or Season Seven with its own technology.

While having previously been linked to an alliance or takeover of the Jay Penske-owned Dragon operation, e-racing365 believes a possibility also exists for Ford to replace an existing Formula E manufacturer on the grid.

A deadline of March 29, meanwhile, has been established for commitments to EWRX, with at least three manufacturers understood to be needed to launch the all-electric championship for 2021.

Ford’s EV exploration has already been more a year in the making, according to Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook.

“As try to electrify what we do in motorsports, we’re looking at hybrids as well as full-electric,” he told e-racing365. “We do continue to look at all the different options that are available to us.

“That includes regular dialogue with Formula E. I talked to them [last] week.

“That does include regular dialogue with IMG and FIA for Electric Rallycross; I also talked to them [last week].

Rushbrook said the past year has seen new EV options develop, including ETCR and the soon-to-be-launched Extreme E off-road championship.

While both are options as well, it’s understood Formula E and EWRX remain the leading candidates for the Blue Oval.

“While there’s stability with Formula E and the trajectory they’re on, not all the other series as they’re being proposed; they’re changing,” he said.

“We’ve been on this journey in looking for an electrified form of motorsports for a year now. We put it out as a landscape, ‘What are the different options?’

“It’s changed a lot in the last year. We as a company continue to change as the whole automotive industry is changing, with silhouette types and powertrains.”

It’s understood Multimatic, which has spearheaded the Ford GT project, has been involved in multiple feasibility studies for the various electrification options, which includes a possible DPi program for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Ford has pledged to invest $11 billion into EV technology in offering 40 hybrid or full EVs for the road by 2022.

“The automotive world is changing; the motorsports landscape is changing,” Rushbrook said.

“We do keep a regular look, reviewing that with our senior management. But we will need to make some decisions soon.”

Sam Smith contributed to this report.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John