The Dragon Penske Autosport Formula E operation has entered into a technical partnership with the Bosch Motorsport company, which will provide it with key future components.
Bosch is already an official partner to Formula E and has been since 2017. It also has extensive experience in providing technology to the DTM and Japanese Super GT series. The company has been looking for technical partnerships in Formula E for several years.
A DPA announcement today cited that within the framework of the new cooperation,”Bosch will be developing an electronic vehicle management system specially tailored to the requirements of the Formula E vehicle along with the corresponding hardware and software components required”.
The partnership will also include plans for Bosch to build an entire powertrain for the Gen3 era of Formula E.
This will include Bosch’s new MS 50.4P vehicle control unit (VCU), which controls the “motor functions and central energy management”, in addition to “brake energy recovery and the display in the driver cockpit”.
This is planned to debut from the Rome E-Prix onwards when DPA unveils its final homologated car for Gen2-era racing in 2021-22.
“Collaboration with Dragon enhances our successful involvement as a series sponsor of Formula E,” said Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management at Robert Bosch GmbH.
“With this partnership, Bosch underscores its claim as a leading supplier of powertrain management solutions, both in electromobility for production vehicles and in electrified motorsports.”
DPA has steadfastly stuck to a path of being its own manufacturer in Formula E and so far resisted the possibilities of following the likes of Envision Virgin Racing and Venturi in becoming a customer to another manufacturer.
It developed a short-lived engineering partnership with Porsche in 2017, which saw some Porsche staff working with the team at the pre-season Valencia test. After this was curtailed DPA also looked at deals with other manufacturers in 2019 but continued to go it alone with a network of technical suppliers.
These have included in the past the Mike Gascoyne-led MGI consultancy and the Integral Powertrain operation that has close links to McLaren.
Jay Penske, owner and team principal of Dragon Penske Autosport, added: “We are very excited to embark on this journey with Bosch in Formula E. We are grateful for the support of Bosch Engineering and the entire Bosch Global board.
“Through our work together we will provide Bosch with a platform to both showcase its capabilities as it develops Formula E specific technologies, while also using the team’s story-telling abilities to illustrate the role Bosch is playing as a leader in the electrification of the mobility industry.
“This long-term technical partnership marks a significant turning point for the team, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of our alliance on track this season when we introduce our new Penske Autosport package later this year.”
DPA has invested in enhancements to its engineering team this year, with former Porsche North America and Arden engineer Gary Davies taking up the position of chief engineer.
Former Jaguar performance engineer Connor Summerville has also been recruited, while Sergio Sette Camara will be engineered by ex-DTM engineer Jamie Gomeche.
Nicolas Mauduit retains his position as chief technical officer of DPA and will continue to work from the Los Angeles headquarters of the team.
