Sleek. Powerful. Sustainable: Innovative engineering meets slick design as Formula 1’s smarter, cleaner rival accelerates the global race for electric vehicle development.

Electric automobile engineering continues to captivate us here at Sarum Hydraulics, and last weekend’s Formula E championship, which took place in London’s Battersea Park, was no exception. Despite hydraulic brakes having yet to make a major appearance within the electric racing scene, innovative engineering pioneered by the growth of Formula E, the world’s first fully-electric Grand Prix racing series, means that all-electric mania is firmly underway at Sarum HQ. With Boris Johnson recently securing London’s participation as a host for races alongside other leading world cities, our infatuation with all things fast, sustainable and electric is far from unique. As reported by last week’s Financial Times, from Beijing to Berlin, Miami to Moscow, Formula E appears set to continue its stratospheric rise across the globe.

Watched by over 150 million people worldwide and with more than 300,000 tickets sold to its races in its first year alone, the sport’s insatiable popularity is already feeding electric car development. The new electric Grand Prix Series is increasingly attracting serious investment from major corporations eager to ensure they do not miss out on their slice of the rapidly expanding Formula E pie, and the recent purchase of a substantial industry stake by John Malone’s Liberty Global and Discovery Communications, as well as the piqued interest of Formula 1’s majority shareholder CV Capital Partners could provide important financial backing in Formula E’s push to become the global catalyst in state-of-the-art electric vehicle development.

 Road vehicle innovation has traditionally been rooted in the race-car industry. Improvements to tyres, aerodynamics, safety, engine development, brakes, active suspension, sequential gearboxes, and composites can all be traced to the dynamic platform of Formula 1, and if innovation feeds more innovation, Formula E is surely set to pay massive dividends for electric car development.

Formula 1 shows no signs of rescinding its crown as the petrol heads’ favourite pastime, and its rich history and financial might would appear almost invincible. Nevertheless, if big valuations for a business are based on massive revenues stretching away in to the future, any newcomer who might ultimately take your lunch must be a concern.  Watch this space!

Formula E, with its core values of energy, environment and entertainment, continues to demonstrate that the future is now for all-electric vehicles worldwide. With the traction generated by ongoing corporate investment, Sarum Hydraulics eagerly anticipates electrifying new developments in electric vehicle engineering as Formula E continues its quest to #DriveTheFuture.

Sarum Hydraulics knows innovative design when it sees it. Look what we do on www.sarum-hydraulics.co.uk .