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The second season of the FIA Formula E Championship was launched in Beijing and ended with a dominant display from Sebastien Buemi. Off-track, DHL, the world’s leading logistics provider and Official Logistics Partner of Formula E, concluded the inaugural season looking at real progress in the development of environment-friendly solutions and is continuing the race towards sustainable mobility during the second season.
As part of a business programme that DHL is leading on behalf of Formula E and its partners, called Formula E eStory, the logistics service provider introduced in Beijing a compendium, “The eStory: Undertaking the Mobility Challenge”, covering mobility innovations, green technology solutions and community initiatives that were facilitated by Formula E, which are expected to have a positive effect on the consumer market and society in the coming years. The eStory business programme aims to unlock the potential for boosting innovation and sustainable mobility. With the strong support of Formula E and partners the eStory will facilitate mass market adoption of sustainable mobility solutions, by accelerating technological developments, bringing these to the attention of major market players, and by increasing acceptance through educating people about e-mobility.
The report touches upon the challenges of sustainable mobility and encompasses trends influencing this challenge. “The success of electric mobility is influenced by multiple external trends, but also requires other pillars to be activated, including technological progress, having the right infrastructure and business models in place, and communication. For DHL, Formula E is a powerful unifying platform for players of the various industries to explore and innovate, and thus jointly shape the future of sustainable mobility,” explains Manoella Wilbaut, author of the report, eStory Leader and Head of Global Commercial Developments & Sustainability, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. “The innovations generated and tested during the first season are only the first steps towards this common goal, with much more to be inspired by Formula E. Sustainability is part of our company’s DNA and we are looking forward to innovations in green technologies that we can adopt for our operations.”
Formula E acts as a catalyst for technological innovation in the automotive industry. It brings together major global corporations that recognise the benefits of developing cross-industry collaborations and of jointly building innovative and sustainable solutions. The case studies that are presented in the White Paper, provided by 13 of Formula E’s partners, demonstrate the ability of Formula E to foster innovation and showcase how the outcomes have far outreached the scope of a racing championship.
One of the innovations in the area of producing clean electricity comes from the British company Aquafuel Research that provides mobile generators which run on glycerine instead of diesel. This fuel is clean on carbon emissions and produces very low particulate and NOx emissions. It is expected that in the next three to five years production of glycerine from salt water algae is commercially viable, thus creating a fully sustainable production.
Further progress was made also in the field of charging systems for electric vehicles by Qualcomm Incorporated - Qualcomm’s Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC). The course cars for the inaugural season were fitted with wireless charging technology that uses resonant magnetic induction to transfer energy wirelessly from a ground‐based pad to a pad integrated into the vehicle.
To extend the sustainable approach of Formula E to the logistics set up, DHL provided an extensive range of services, incorporating the most efficient and green technology and processes available today to ensure the racing cars, spare parts, and further equipment, including potentially dangerous goods like the high performance batteries, are all delivered safely and on time.
“In its first season Formula E has proven to be an exciting platform. Not just for spectators, but first and foremost for the automotive industry to exchange ideas and innovate,” said Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E at the presentation in Beijing. “Although we just started, thrilling progress was made confirming the series as a launch pad for innovations with high potential to reach the consumer market. And we’re just getting started! This innovation journey continues in Formula E’s second season. We are happy to give the mandate for leading the eStory to DHL which has proven to be a leading pioneer in sustainable mobility.”
DHL is a leading provider of sustainable logistics solutions. E-mobility and carbon-free vehicle concepts are key elements of Deutsche Post DHL Group's aim to improve the CO2 efficiency of its own operations and those of its transport contractors by 30 per cent by 2020.
The partners who contributed to the White Paper are in alphabetical order: Andretti, BMW, DHL, EY, Formula E, Julius Baer, Mahindra, Michelin, Qualcomm, Renault, Team Aguri, TAG Heuer and Williams.