Day after day, Formula E surprises with its capacity for technological development, taking into account that beyond the sporting competitiveness that exists in the tournament, the series is a great laboratory of innovations.
During the Monaco E-Prix, Jaguar TCS Racing and long-time partner Castrol set out to test and demonstrate sustainable solutions and circularity. The team ran the refined Castrol ON EV Transmission Fluid in their cars, pioneering the process on track as the first motorsport team in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to make use of a circular transmission fluid.
As the official EV Fluids partner of Jaguar TCS Racing from 2019, Castrol is working with the team to co-design advanced EV fluids and lubricants, with the aim of having the most sustainable performance and solutions to support the future of EV efficiency.
Road to Decarbonization
Rosella Cardone, Director and Chief Sustainability Officer at JLR, highlights that the use of re-refined electric vehicle transmission fluid is a great demonstration of circularity in action on the race track and supports the company’s broader ambition to adopt circular economy principles to reduce the use of virgin materials.
“We have a clear goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2039 and integrating sustainability into JLR’s DNA,” the executive said.
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The Automotive Test Bank
Season 9 has been a test bed for Castrol, using the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 as a fast-paced laboratory to evaluate the comparable performance of a more circular transmission fluid. Monaco saw Castrol ON EV Transmission Fluid deployed in the Formula E pressure cooker environment, following successful tests earlier in the season in Berlin.
Waste transmission fluid taken from all of Jaguar TCS Racing‘s testing and development activity is collected and refined using a technique to recover its main constituent base oil.
This more circular base oil is blended with performance additives to make a fresh batch of EV transmission fluid, which is then deployed in the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 gearbox in place of fluid containing virgin base oil.
Urban Vision
Both Jaguar TCS Racing and Castrol will collect key data within the contained ecosystem to develop a technical and practical understanding of the technology and processes around more circular transmission fluid systems, with the ultimate goal of applying learnings from the race track to road cars.
“We are immensely proud to be the first motorsport team in Formula E to deploy this circular process, through the use of re-refined base oil, to a race car and set the standard for pioneering circularity within the paddock,” adds James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal.
“In this World Cup with incredible competition, we can’t compromise on performance, so the successful use of an uncompromised circular oil is a game changer. I think this is a key discovery and helps us learn what is possible when pushing the boundaries of EV fluids for the benefit of future road cars,” he concluded.
