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FIA Formula E team, DS Virgin Racing, has announced that it has entered a new technical partnership with Total which will last until 2021.
“DS Performance is in Formula E because the series offers a scope for research that no other form of motorsport can currently match,” said Xavier Mestelan Pinon, director of DS Performance. “At this stage in the DSV-02’s development, we are exploring solutions to the different constraints we face.”
With the hunt for improvements in efficiency as equally as important as increases in power and torque, lubricant technologies are an important aspect of research and development when it comes to efficiency.
The announcement of the new partnership means that the DSV-02 will benefit almost immediately as Total is introducing a new transmission lubricant that has been “tailor-formulated” at the Total Research Center in Solaize, France.
Pinon added: “The lubricants, fluids and greases Total’s engineers have developed will bring a real plus in terms of performance and are also allowing us to push our own research work even further.”
The automotive and motorsport industry is continuing to distance itself from relying on hydrocarbon based fuels and is instead exploring alternative energy sources. This means that where oil giants have usually marketed its fuels in motorsport, they are now having to market and develop their lubricant and fluids just as much.
“This partnership with DS Performance will enable our engineers to design, develop and test specific lubricants, fluids and greases under extreme stress conditions,” explained Pierre-Gautier Caloni, director of Total Competition & Sponsoring. “Ultimately, technology transfer will enable electric vehicle owners to benefit from these products.”
A technical partnership such as the one formed between Total and DS could result in performance gains in a variety of areas such as cooling, component wear life and gearbox and motor efficiency as a result of decreased energy losses.
