Jaguar has a long and illustrious history in auto racing, but it got out of the sport in 2004, when its Formula One team was sold to Red Bull. It’s a sign of the electrifying times that the beloved British brand’s return to global motorsport will be as part of the FIA Formula E Championship. Jaguar’s team will enter the third season in the fall of 2016.

“Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover’s future product portfolio and Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies,” said Nick Rogers, Group Engineering Director for Jaguar Land Rover. “The Championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions.”

“It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades,” Rogers continued. “The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanization continues to increase. Formula E has recognized and reacted to these trends and the championship’s exciting and pioneering approach is the perfect fit for our brand.”

Williams Advanced Engineering, which builds the battery system for the current Formula E racers, will be a technical partner to the Jaguar Formula E Team. Jaguar and Williams have a long-standing relationship – they worked together to develop the Jaguar C-X75 plug-in hybrid concept car.

“Jaguar is a brand with a rich sporting heritage and the fact that it is returning to global motorsport with Formula E is a huge endorsement of the championship and its ability to influence the development of electric cars,” said Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag. “Jaguar brings with it a passionate fan base that will drive the popularity of the championship across the world and once again shows that Formula E is the future of motorsport.”

“We looked in detail at alternative ways of returning to motorsport,” said Jaguar Team Director James Barclay. “With our future EV plans, Formula E was the obvious choice and we believe that the benefits are enormous. The FIA and the promoter have exciting plans for the future of the championship and we are proud to be one of the first vehicle manufacturers to commit to the series with our own team. We have a lot of work to do ahead of the first race but it is a challenge we relish.”

Source: Jaguar Land Rover