Energy major Shell India has entered into a new multi-year partnership with Mahindra Racing, which it says will strengthen the technical and commercial collaboration between the two businesses.

The global leader in lubricants joined Mahindra Racing as a sponsor of Mahindra's Formula E programme in December 2018. This new agreement will form a part of a wide-ranging cooperation between the two companies.

Shell manufactures, distributes, and markets lubricants for Mahindra’s automotive and agricultural divisions in India and South Africa. In addition, lubricants scientists from Shell’s Global Technology Centres are working alongside Mahindra to develop new lubricant solutions which will drive performance improvement in their vehicles.

Shell India says the Formula E partnership offers an important opportunity for it to showcase its technical leadership in e-fluids. Specifically, Shell has formulated a bespoke e-transmission fluid for Mahindra Racing’s M7Electro race car, which played an important role in the team’s race winning and podium performances in season 7. This new specialised fluid enhances the efficiency of the transmission which helps improve the car’s performance on the racetrack.

Debanjali Sengupta, country head, Shell Lubricants India said, “We are thrilled to announce the new chapter of our long-standing partnership with an industry leader like Mahindra. The collaboration also gives us the opportunity to create a symbiosis between learnings from our global legacy in motorsports, and new breakthroughs whilst further testing the efficiency of our product in rapidly evolving high-pressure situations. We hope to create an enthralling experience for not only our immediate consumers, but also racing fans across the country.”

Selda Gunsel, VP – Global Lubricants and Fuel Technology, Shell said: “We’re excited to be collaborating more closely with Mahindra Racing on the development of e-fluids for their Formula E cars. This is the ultimate test bed for product development and the learnings from the racetrack help us improve our e-fluids for electric vehicles on the road.” 

Dilbagh Gill, CEO and Team Principal of Mahindra Racing said: “Shell has been an integral part of our Gen2 journey having joined us at the start of Season 5 and we are delighted that they will continue to be a part of the Mahindra Racing family as we make the transition into the next exciting phase of the championship and Gen3. We will continue our R&D collaboration in line with our ‘Race to Road’ technology development programme, to bring innovative and sustainable offerings to the world of electric mobility.”