Formula E is looking to perfect its Pit Boost technology for Season 11 and in this week’s Sustainable Motorsport Roundup you will find out where they are at with it. I also have news on Lola’s future, the magic molecule of hydrogen and the increasing accessibility of EV racing. All this and more sustainable high performance motorsport news.
Sustainable Motorsport News
The sustainability initiatives of Mercedes F1 are being noticed outside of F1 and general motorsport circles. Both Bio Fuels International and Sustainability News have featured the team’s sustainable logistics operations which is always a good thing for sustainable motorsport.
Bio Fuels International focuses on the team’s use of HVO100 bio fuel powering its marketing trucks and generators for the 2024 European Season. “Despite the complexities of the supply chain across Europe, the team achieved 98% biofuel coverage in its race and marketing trucks and generators, resulting in a saving of over 500 tCO2e from their carbon footprint.”
Sustainability News on the other hand focuses on the team’s use of sustainable aviation fuel. “This multi-million-pound investment is set to reduce the team’s race personnel air travel footprint by nearly 50%, reflecting the potential of SAF in mitigating the environmental impact of international sports competitions.”
Here are the links to the full articles:
- Mercedes F1 team makes huge carbon footprint savings with biofuels (Bio Fuels International)
- Mercedes-AMG F1 team takes pole position in Sustainable Aviation Fuel investment (Sustainability News)
Following its entry into Formula E, Lola Cars has started exploring the next steps of its revival according to RACER.
“We want to be a leader in sustainable motorsport. Why sustainable motorsport? In my view, motorsport plays two roles: on the one hand, it’s an entertainment sport, on the other hand it’s a platform for innovation for the broader automotive and mobility space,” Lola chairman Till Bechtolsheimer said at Formula E’s pre-season test in Spain last week. “I think broader automotive and mobility space is pretty singularly focused on decarbonizing and so I think that’s the direction that motorsport’s directly going towards as well.
You can read more about their potential next steps here.
The FIA hosted their third Sustainable Innovation Series on ‘Nature and Motor Sport’ recently that gathered exceptional speakers from the world of sport and sustainability. They shared key insights with the FIA on how the sport community can promote and preserve biodiversity for the future.
You can read the full recap here.
While motorsport has made great strides in its quest to become sustainable, the partners it is using on the journey have raised more than a few eyebrows, none more so than Aramco.
Here is a a quote from an article from Play the Game looking at the recent sponsorship agreement between the Saudi oil giant and football governing body FIFA that adds some background.
“Partnering up with Aramco, FIFA appears to be promoting a major polluter as its energy partner, in contradiction of its own Sustainable Sourcing Code, which requires its partners to comply with the 2016 Paris Agreement on Climate Change that commits to holding the global increase in average temperature to “well below 2°c above pre-industrial levels.””
The full article can be found here: FIFA ignores new sponsor Aramco’s dismal record on carbon emissions (Play the Game)
Sustainable Motorsport Tech
Welcome to the FIA World Rallycross Championship, an exhilarating competition where cutting-edge technology takes centre stage. In this championship, two distinct types of powertrains go head-to-head: traditional internal combustion engines fueled by sustainable biofuels and advanced all-electric powertrains.
This championship not only showcases the speed and skill of rallycross racing but also serves as a battleground for innovation, as teams and manufacturers strive to prove which technology can outperform the other while adhering to environmental sustainability. As drivers navigate a variety of challenging tracks and obstacles, fans witness a thrilling clash of engineering, strategy, and raw talent, all while contributing to the evolving conversation about the future of motor sport technology.
As we look to forge a path towards a net-zero future, hydrogen is being hailed as the “magic molecule” for its potential to support the world’s renewable energy targets.
The Extreme E website sat down with Richard Washington, Professor of Climate Science at the University of Oxford, and Chair of Extreme E’s Scientific Committee to delve more deeply with some of hydrogen’s most important questions.
“Over the next two weeks at COP, we are hoping that hydrogen will be one of the most discussed and anticipated solutions for achieving net-zero emissions. From scaling green hydrogen production to building global infrastructure, COP29 will be an opportunity for world leaders and industry experts to set a clear path for hydrogen’s role in the energy transition. As hydrogen technologies evolve, we could see this “magic molecule” catalyse the changes needed to secure a sustainable, low-carbon future for generations to come.”
You can read the full interview here.
Sustainable Racing
PRI looks at the increasing accessibility of EV racing as recent advances in battery technology are reducing costs and providing new opportunities for people in the motorsports community.
When it comes to electric vehicle (EV) motorsports, the conversations around opportunities and limitations are generally centered around one critical component: the battery.
“The battery system is probably the most expensive part of building a high-level EV drag race car, and probably in most forms of racing,” said Jeff Lane, co-founder of MLe Racecars, Seattle, Washington. “However, the battery technology keeps getting more powerful, less expensive, and lighter weight.”
Read the full article on the PRI website here.
Despite the i creasing accessibility of EV racing, there are still issues to be confronted, including dealing with EV fires. Due to this, Willowbank Raceway in Queensland, Australia just banned electric cars from testing and competing due to safety concerns.
“This will take effect immediately and will only apply to Full Electric Vehicles at all events at Willowbank Raceway. We will continue to allow Hybrid Vehicles to run.”
The Drive has all the details.
Series News
Formula E just completed their first and only pre-season test as the all-electric series gets ready to kick off Season 11 and there were no shortage of news stories from the test as well as from the all-female test that took place immediately afterwards.
I will link to a round-up of news from the sessions below but what I most wanted to hear about was the status of their not yet implemented pit stop charging plans. Once called “Active Charge” and now called “Pit Boost,” the technology was put through its paces in Jarama.
“The Race understands that the potential introduction of the energy boosting stops, which is now under the working title of ‘Pit Boost’ rather than the original ‘Attack Charge’ moniker, was mostly a success, although there were some problems during the trial, including difficulties for both DS Penske entries of Jean-Eric Vergne and Maximilian Guenther.”
- All we’ve learned about Formula E’s pitstop test race and plans (The Race)
- Paddock ramblings: What we’ve learned at the Formula E Jarama test (Motorsport Week)
- Five things we learned from Formula E pre-season testing (Autosport)
- Jarama – Post Test Notebook (Formula E Notebook)
- Pulling fastest in Formula E’s first Women’s Test (Formula E)
If you are looking for all the new Formula E liveries in one place, Goodwood Road & Racing has you covered, although the Maserati livery has since been updated with a nod to its past as you can see above.
The Race reports that the London Formula E race contract is set to be extended to include a 2026 E-Prix at the unique inside and outside ExCeL venue in London Docklands. You can read more about the suitability of racing at the the venue with Gen4 cars here.
Goodwood Road & Racing explains how Formula E is the “showcase” for your future electric car. “We have boosted the electrification of the brand thanks to the motorsport. The engineers that are working on the car are sharing all this experience and are giving all the right suggestions to the engineers that are working on the road legal cars.”
In the video above, see how DHL, the official logistics partner of the FIA World Endurance Championship, transported all the WEC cars from Austin, Texas, to Fuji, Japan, to take on a unique challenge: racing twice in three weeks on two different continents.
AutoWeek reports on NASCAR’s State of the Sport and what role EVs will play in NASCAR’s future. “A lot of folks have the luxury of playing in all of those spaces,” O’Donnell said. “For us, we’ve sometimes got to pick and choose. Our R&D group (has) been able to showcase new technologies. Maybe not necessarily race it in a series but showcase what we can do and if we ultimately went out and created a series, we’re more than capable of doing that.”
The Big Picture
Infront Sport gives three reasons why the sports industry should care more about environmental sustainability. “Whilst sport is also turning its attention to the area, it is important to understand potential consequences if the sector doesn’t include sustainability as part of its strategy going forward.”
You can read the three reasons here.
Getting to the Track Sustainably
- These New Retro Electric Motorcycles Are for Getting Around Town in Style (Robb Report)
- Honda previews first electric performance motorcycle (Green Car Reports)
- 2025 Porsche Taycan 4 and Taycan GTS expand lineup to 13 iterations (Green Car Reports)
- Karma Invictus positioned as Revero performance variant (Green Car Reports)
- Daimler Truck receives road approval for hydrogen fuel-cell prototype (Freight Carbon Zero)
- Aldi introduces HVO-powered trucks to its fleet (Bio Fuels News)
- Renault’s E-Tech T makes UK debut: eFREIGHT 2030 and Welch’s Transport lead the charge (Freight Carbon Zero)
- Daimler Truck North America launches first electric freightliner eCascadia in Detroit for logistics operations (Freight Carbon Zero)
- TUI and Repsol team up to launch first biofuel coach trial (Bio Fuels News)
- ZeroAvia and PowerCell Partner on Next-Gen Fuel Cells for Clean Aviation (HYSKY)
- A Look Back at FLYING HY 2024: Aviation’s Zero-Carbon Hydrogen Future (HYSKY)
- Researchers Pioneer Cleaner Hydrogen Combustion Engine with Innovative Catalyst Technology (HYSKY)
- ZeroAvia Wins ATI Project of the Year Award for Hydrogen-Electric Engine Development (HYSKY)
- Euro Aviation Leaders Demand Urgent Investment in eSAF (AIN)
- Airbus’s Electric Air Taxi Just Made Its First Flight (Robb Report)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
