The BMW iFE.18, with which the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team won the opening round of this season’s ABB FIA Formula E Championship, includes many features developed by BMW, as well as the standard parts stipulated in the regulations. The most obvious of these is the Racing eDrive01 drivetrain.

However, the engineers at BMW i Motorsport had many other areas in which to apply their know-how. While the chassis, battery and tyres are standard Formula E parts in order to keep costs down, the engineers at BMW i Motorsport
designed the rear axle (including the suspension and shock absorbers) and integrated the drivetrain in the rear part of the car.

The team can configure typical set-up parameters on the chassis of the BMW iFE.18, such as spring rates, anti-roll bars, ride height, toe-in and camber.

The chassis set-up plays an important role in achieving maximum grip on the tarmac surfaces of the street circuits, some of which are very uneven compared to permanent racetracks.

The extensive experience that BMW i Motorsport engineers have in the development and production of fibre-reinforced plastics really came into its own in the design of the rear-end structure, which is not only light but also satisfies the mandatory crash load requirements.

Another major in-house BMW development is the electronic brake-by-wire braking system, which controls the relationship between the mechanical braking force when the driver pushes the brake pedal and the braking effect generated by energy harvested during deceleration and braking.

When the motor recovers energy from the braking process during the race, it basically functions as an additional brake on the rear axle of the car.

Previously, drivers had to manually adjust the brake balance to allow for the additional braking effect.

The electronics on the BMW iFE.18 now perform this balance.

The integration of the brake-by-wire system and the software logic developed by the BMW i Motorsport engineers significantly increases the regeneration potential — the maximum amount of energy that can be fed back into the battery when braking.

Finding the best possible configuration of this software is crucial to having maximum power available from the battery for the entire race, while complying with the regulations.

A detailed description of the drivetrain on the BMW iFE.18 can be found at the Web site (www.bmwblog.com).