Mahindra Racing and Automobili Pininfarina join forces to bring race track tech to the road

Mahindra Racing and Automobili Pininfarina have announced the strengthening of their partnership and a commitment to developing new technologies aimed at advancing the world of high-performance electric mobility. The two companies will collaborate on the transfer of motorsport principles and technologies from the race track to the road, to enable Automobili Pininfarina to produce the most sustainable and luxurious electric vehicles in the world.

Automobili Pininfarina, owned by Mahindra & Mahindra, was officially launched in April 2018 at the Rome E-Prix, laying down the foundations of the link between the world’s premiere single-seater electric racing series and the world’s newest luxury electric car company. Automobili Pininfarina, which has European bases in Italy and Germany, laid out its plans to develop a sustainable luxury car range starting with the limited-edition Battista pure-electric hypercar. 

The Battista has a separate motor for each wheel that, collectively, deliver up to 1900bhp and 1696lb ft. Pininfarina says that is good enough for a sub-2sec, 0-100kph time, 0-186mph/0-305kph in under 12sec and a top speed of around 217mph/355kph. 

Road and track
The sharing of technology between the two companies will cover programmes and components including simulation and energy use, composites, the powertrain and cooling systems. They will also be sharing resources in areas including wind tunnel work, suppliers and personnel, including the Mahindra Racing Formula E race drivers. This is in addition to the work already being done by former driver Nick Heidfeld, who is now the Development Driver with Automobili Pininfarina.

Mahindra Racing is a founding team - and the only Indian team - to compete in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first all-electric street racing series. Mahindra Racing has an impressive stats sheet and is a multi-race winning outfit after scoring its breakthrough victory at the Berlin E-Prix in 2017. The squad is committed not only to pushing the limits of technology and innovation in theelectric vehicle space, but to addressing the impact of climate change; it is the only Formula E team to be awarded the FIA Environmental Accreditation Two-Star rating.

Commenting on the development, Dilbagh Gill, Mahindra Racing CEO and Team Principal, said: “When we originally started the partnership with Automobili Pininfarina, we looked at us being a technology provider in the sense that we want to transfer the learnings we take from the race track and apply them to the road. We want to leverage the strengths of our organisations; both of us have a pretty strong ecosystem and we want to focus on how to bring these ecosystems together and that’s why the partnership is important. For Mahindra & Mahindra, which is the parent company for both of us, it’s a case of our two investments coming together to bring something special in terms of excitement, luxury and sustainability to the consumer.”

According to Michael Perchke, CEO, Automobili Pininfarina, “Automobili Pininfarina is on a mission to create electric luxury vehicles the world truly loves, and the role of Mahindra Racing in developing these cars of the future will be an important feature in our anticipated success. Our clients for the Battista pure-electric hypercar have already experienced the pinnacle of EV motorsport through testing Mahindra Racing cars on track. We see many opportunities to develop this relationship on many levels and I am looking forward to Automobili Pininfarina and Mahindra Racing being able to share more details of our exciting and strategic plans in the very near future.”

Mahindra Racing will next be seen in action on Saturday 29 February at the Marrakesh E-Prix, round

five of the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship. And Automobili Pininfarina will be presenting its latest at the Geneva International Motor Show from 5-15 March.

READ MORE
Automobili Pininfarina to use Benteler platform for electric SUV and future models