This week Elysium Magazine investigated the world of DS Automobiles – the earlier feature looking at how the car brand developed from the foundations of Citroën to become an outright luxury offering within the French automotive space where this category remained unfilled until its entry. Today, Elysium Magazine looks at more of the connections DS Automobiles is making to ensure wider awareness with its participation in the Formula E championship.
First things first, DS Automobiles through its partnership with Techeetah – forming DS Techeetah – is double world champion, both in the driver category and team pursuit for the 2018-2019 Formula E championship. Following the final round race in New York in July, the DS Techeetah team and lead driver, Jean-Éric Vergne, triumphed in unanimous style taking the crowns they lost by only two points the previous championship season to Audi Sport.
Elysium Magazine travelled to the Paris race earlier in the season to get the behind-the-scenes view of plotting a championship win but also looking at the overall strategy behind partnering with Techeetah within the world of electrified car racing.
Why Electric?
Anyone within the car world will know there is a powershift in play – whilst diesel and petrol combustion engines have enjoyed decades of dominance, the world is becoming a responsible place and huge emphasis is being placed on the environment and sustainability. Petrol and diesel engines have less relevance in this space and it’s diminishing year on year.
With that in mind, all car makers are doing their best to develop and launch electric cars – it’s the future as we know it and those not in the electrified game will fall behind. So, it makes sense that car makers actively participate in the electrified sector and there is none better than electric car racing – Formula E. Technological developments in this space will cascade down to consumer vehicles soon so its best to be at the forefront of the action – in all senses.
Why Formula E?
It’s the leading electric racing organisation with global scale, glamourous locations and family-friendly vibes. Anyone who attends a Formula E race will witness the diverse crowds – scores of families with young children, the hipster food shacks and the musical entertainment. It’s a crowd pleaser on so many levels.
It’s also the best arena to demonstrate the prowess of electrified cars to a mass consumer market – who most likely will be buying an electric car in the next three to five years. Furthermore, it’s the children who’ll be influencing the parents about the car choices as they become evermore aware of the damage being done to the environment.
It’s also fun – the involvement from the crowd to boost driver performance aids the whole event participation aspect of the game, giving fans young and old and sense of engagement not seen elsewhere in the sporting world.
So, fast cars, cutting edge developments in electrified car racing and a mass consumer audience – specifically those who’ll most likely buy into the electric car trend soon – means DS Automobiles, like the other big car brands at play, are making an early move into a growing sector. Winning just helps keeps the feel-good factor going and puts more attention on DS Automobiles through its partnership with Techeetah.
What About Next Season?
The new racing season for Formula E kicks off from the 22nd November 2019, with 14 races scheduled across 12 of the world’s most progressive cities. London is lucky enough to host two races – the penultimate and final rounds of the championship.
DS Automobiles will again partner with Techeetah where Jean-Éric Vergne will defend his crown. JEV as he is known will now compete against former co-driver André Lotterer who announced in July that he will leave DS Techeetah to drive for Porsche in the new season, hoping to better his eighth-place finish in the 2018-2019 season.
For more details, visit Formula E or DS Techeetah for more details.