Update: Porsche has announced that they too are dropping gas-powered racing for Formula E. See below for the story.
Mercedes-Benz is dropping touring cars for electric motors at the end of 2018. They called the decision "a strategic repositioning of (their) motorsport activities."
The brand announced today that at the end of next season, Mercedes-Benz will be leaving DTM, the German touring car series. In place of that series, they will be entering the Formula E all-electric racing series for the 2019/2020 season.
Mercedes-Benz has been competing in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) since the rebirth of the series in 2000. Think of the DTM like the European version of NASCAR. Take cars that are based loosely on production cars like the Audi RS5, BMW M4, and of course, Mercedes-Benz's own AMG C-class. But then strip them down, add as many aerodynamic add-ons as you can find, and then add horsepower. 1,120 kg carbon racers with 4.0L V8s. Naturally aspirated, but still 500 hp or so.
They race on road courses around Germany, in some of the most aggressive racing short of Australian Supercars.
Toto Wolff, director of the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team, spoke about the departure. "Our years in the DTM will always be held high as a major chapter in the motorsport history of Mercedes," he said.
The move to Formula E is "a significant step in order to demonstrate the performance of our attractive battery powered electric vehicles, as well as giving an emotional spin to our EQ technology brand through motorsport," according to Dr Jens Thiemer, Mercedes VP marketing.
Formula E is an upstart electric racing series, currently in its third series. The racing involves open-wheel cars that run on battery power only. The races last 50 minutes, with drivers changing to new cars at a pitstop midway in order to get fresh batteries.
"Formula E is like an exciting start-up venture: it offers a brand new format, combining racing with a strong event character, in order to promote current and future technologies," said Wolff.
Mercedes will join Citroën, Renault, and Jaguar, who are all currently competing in the electric racing series, and BMW, who are joining next year. The series has 12 races in six cities around the globe, including a July race this weekend in Montreal.
Porsche too has announced that it too will be dropping out of a conventional motorsport to join Formula E.
Don't worry, the 911 GT2 and GT3 won't be disappearing or turning electric. Not yet, at least. Porche will be dropping out of the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of this year.
After three victories in a row at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche is making the change to electric racers. They will maintain their GT teams, racing the 911 GSR in the WEC.
"The growing freedom for in-house technology developments makes Formula E attractive to us," said Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board of Porsche AG responsible for Research and Development. He added that "for us, Formula E is the ultimate competitive environment for driving forward the development of high-performance vehicles in areas such as environmental friendliness, efficiency, and sustainability."
Porsche called Formula E the logical outcome of their Mission E electric vehicle project. They didn't announce when they would make their debut on track in Formula E.
