On October 24, Porsche has now built the new Porsche 99X electric GEN3 Evo electric formula racing car for the next two Formula E seasons. Complying with the rules of the upgraded third-generation electric formula racing car (GEN3 Evo), it uses comprehensively improved Porsche internal research and development components. Formula E safety car driver and GEN3 Evo development driver Bruno Correia unveiled the new Porsche 99X Electric GEN3 Evo for the first time in an online video. Key technical innovations include front-wheel drive, grippier tires and a revised front wing. Formula E 2023/2024 champion Pascal Wehrlein and António Félix da Costa, the driver with the most wins last season, have renewed their contracts with the Porsche factory team, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. Formula E 2022/2023 champion Jake Dennis and new Porsche factory driver Nico Müller will compete for the customer team Andretti Formula E Team.

The main technical innovation of the GEN3 Evo relates to standardized hardware across all participating teams and manufacturers. From now on, the front-wheel drive system can be used during qualifying, the race start and during attack mode. This gives the car temporary all-wheel drive, allowing the Porsche 99X Electric to accelerate to 100 km/h in approximately two seconds. Making the engagement of the front-wheel drive system as efficient as possible is another technical challenge, and the lessons learned will also benefit Porsche's road-going sports cars.

High-performance tires provided by exclusive supplier Hankook will help Formula E racing cars reach higher speeds in the new season. In order to reduce carbon emissions, each car will still only be provided with two sets of tires per race weekend (three sets of tires for two consecutive rounds). Whether it's dry or slippery, this tire can handle it.

The improved front wing is the most notable appearance feature of the new car. The new front wing form makes the car more stable and more capable of withstanding collisions. The covers behind the roll cage and in front of the rear wheels have been further improved.

The driving power of the new racing car is 300 kW (408 PS) in normal operation, and 350 kW (476 PS) in attack mode and qualifying two-two duel four-wheel drive mode. 0–100 km/h acceleration time is approximately 2.0 seconds. The braking energy recuperation power is up to 600 kW, and about 50% of the driving energy in each round comes from braking energy recuperation. The electric braking power is up to 250 kW on the front axle and 350 kW on the rear axle. Further deceleration is achieved via brake calipers and brake discs on the front axle (a "brake-by-wire" system), while the conventional braking system on the rear axle is only activated in an emergency (if recuperation fails). It is also equipped with Hankook iON Race tires that are suitable for both wet and dry roads. The lithium battery capacity is 38.5 kWh, and the weight of the entire battery pack is controlled at 285 kg. There is also a CCS super charging system with a charging power of up to 600 kW.

The new colors for the Porsche 99X Electric are Sky Purple Metallic and Shadow Green Metallic. Two colors are correctIt is the body color of Porsche’s new flagship electric sports car, the Taycan Turbo GT, launched at the beginning of this year. The Taycan Turbo GT is the most powerful series production model the Porsche brand has ever produced. Two Taycan Turbo GTs painted in Sky Purple and Shadow Green respectively have become the new safety cars of Formula E this season. Violet and green hues replace the traditional combination of black, white and red, with the new colors symbolizing the transfer of technology from motorsport to series production. The color change also signals electrification and Porsche’s pioneering spirit, showcasing the company’s innovative strength in the ever-evolving Formula E series.

TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and Andretti Formula E Team will participate in the official Formula E pre-season test in Valencia, Spain, from November 4th to 7th. In addition to Wehrlein and da Costa, two female drivers, Gabriela Jílková from the Czech Republic and Marta García from Spain, will also test in a Porsche car in Valencia.

Interview transcript:

At the same time, we also conducted an interview with Florian Mollinger, Porsche Formula E factory team director, and Wehrlein, the Porsche factory team driver, and asked them about their feelings about the new car and their prospects for the new season. The content of the interview As follows:

1. Wehrlein has already won the championship driver of the year. Is the team’s next goal to be the championship team or to continue to defend the championship driver? What are your strategic goals for next season?

Wehrlein: Our goal is very clear, which is to defend the driver’s championship.and win the constructors' championship. We will also strive to win the manufacturer's championship title. In the new season, we have new rules, new cars, including new tires. We must adapt to each of them as soon as possible and seize as many advantages as possible. Through the development and testing of the past few months, we have seen that the new car has enough potential to achieve very good results in the new season.

Florian Mollinger: Wehrlein's results this year are very good. This title of world champion driver is of great significance to our team and Porsche. As you can see in the video just now, this is the first German driver to win the single-seater world championship in a long time, which can also be said to have written history. It was a great performance in the final leg in London and it was a great race.

In the new season, we will continue to strengthen and optimize the weaknesses of the past. In fact, our GEN3 racing car has been very successful and has achieved good results in the past ninth and tenth seasons. This year we won the manufacturer's trophy (second place), and next year in the new season we will challenge for three world championship trophies (driver, team, manufacturer). Of course, defending the championship is not easy. In the history of Formula E There is only one person, the French driver JEAN-ÉRIC VERGNE, who has successfully defended his title and is very impressive.

2. As a world champion, you join everyone else in choosing to wear the number 1 on your car. What does this mean to you? We understand that 94 is your lucky number, is it difficult to choose between 1 and 94?

Wehrlein: Indeed, the number 94 has been my lucky number in many races over many seasons, including Formula E and the German Touring Car Masters (DTM). I have a soft spot for it. Of course, the number 1 is the privilege or honor of the world champion. Only the world champion can use the number 1 in every competition. I am also very honored to change my car number to 1.Number. So it wasn't a hard decision.

3. In Porsche road cars, when cornering, the four-wheel drive model will shift the transmission to the rear drive when turning forward, and when turning reversely, the transmission will move more to the front drive. So after the GEN3 Evo racing car is equipped with four-wheel drive, is the logic in this aspect similar to that of a road car?

Florian Mollinger: The driver has more say in this, but from a general technical point of view, the car itself is still a four-suspension single-seat racing car. From a basic mechanical point of view, it is the same as other There is no difference in racing. It's just that in Formula E we will involve more software debugging, especially the ratio and balance of front and rear brakes, including motor braking, etc. These can very well help the driver to better handle the different corners. Control the car, but it's up to the team and driver to set it up and apply it correctly.

Wehrlein: In fact, the biggest difference is that when exiting a corner, the four-wheel drive will provide better grip, allowing the car to accelerate faster and accelerate from zero to full throttle as quickly as possible out of the corner. But when entering corners, the difference is relatively small. I think the difficulty, as Florian said before, is how to have a better balance on the four-wheel drive while driving the car, and we have to try to find the right compromise, especially in qualifying. .

In two weeks, all teams will go to Valencia for official pre-season testing. I guess everyone will spy on each other to see how other teams’ cars are like, what experience we can gain, and then we will More adjustments and improvements are made at each race.

4. In the previous car, the braking energy recovery capacity of the car was 250 kW. In GEN3, it is 250 kW on the front axle and 350 kW on the rear axle, for a total of 600 kW. Is there any improvement in this aspect of GEN3 Evo?

Florian Mollinger: GEN3 Evo is the same as GEN3, both have a maximum of 600kW braking energy recovery.

Reporter: How much braking energy recovery can the GEN3 Evo car achieve in one race? In addition, there are no brakes on the rear axle, so all rear axle braking is achieved by motors. How much (proportion) can mechanical brakes have? Do you not have to worry about brake failure?

Florian Mollinger: There is no standard value. We now try our best to disable the mechanical brakes on the front axle and let the front and rear motors recycle as much as possible, using kinetic energy recovery to decelerate. Of course, it is not ruled out that when the attack and defense are very intense, the mechanical brakes of the front wheels will be needed to decelerate faster at chicanes. Of course this is definitely a waste of energy for us and we will try to avoid it.

There is still a backup brake on the rear axle. It is a very thin disc brake similar to that of a motorcycle. It will only step in to help decelerate in emergency situations, such as when the motor of the rear axle cannot recover energy, so the rear axle has a backup brake. The bridge can basically achieve 100% kinetic energy recovery.

5. Which technologies on the GEN3 evo racing car will be transferred to mass-produced cars?

Florian Mollinger: Let me start by explaining the overall approach of our motorsport project and how we work in motorsport. We have people from our FE program in each department, we have good links with each department and the transfer from track to road is very important for us because our development cycles are much shorter than with production cars, This means we develop faster and we develop under different conditions.

We do have a lot of racing technology applied to road cars. To give a few examples, we use DC/DC converters from GEN2 racing cars to GT4 ePerformance prototypes to current production cars. The characteristic of racing cars is that the development progress is very fast. Many prototype components can be quickly developed in the racing field and then used on road cars. Many of GEN3 Evo's control software are very helpful in the development of mass-produced vehicles. For example, the four-wheel drive technology we are practicing will be very helpful for the traction control and four-wheel drive software of subsequent pure electric models.

6. Will the change in drive mode of GEN3 Evo make tire wear a concern?? Will the changes to GEN3 Evo bring about changes in the team’s strategy and tuning during the race?

Wehrlein: Tires will be an important topic next year because we are also adapting to new tire options. Hankook is bringing in softer tire compounds that are expected to last longer but will also degrade during racing or with extended use. Four-wheel drive will slightly change how your tires age and how your tires behave overall. In each race, both drivers and teams will consciously maximize the performance of these tires. The layout of the track at each race will be different, and the usage of the tires will also be different. These will become a very critical factor in the following season. .

Florian Mollinger: First of all, the wear problem of new tires requires us to maximize performance while protecting the tires. Secondly, all-wheel drive can significantly improve overtaking capabilities in attack mode, especially when braking and exiting corners. Four-wheel drive has more power than rear-wheel drive, making overtaking actions easier to occur when exiting corners. As a driver, you need to quickly judge whether to defend, attack or overtake when exiting a corner. Finally, the new rules not only change the way of overtaking, but also affect the formulation of race strategies. Drivers need to make the best decisions after considering factors such as tire wear, all-wheel drive attack mode, and safety cars. This is all our strategy development need to be taken into consideration.

7. As the only manufacturer that currently provides power units to two non-Porsche factory teams, and as the only manufacturer that currently provides the teams with the experience of improving the four-wheel drive of the old GEN3 power unit, how to use it? Customer fleets to gain R&D advantage? And help customer fleets achieve better results?

Florian Mollinger: We need to support a total of 6 cars in the new season, 4 cars from our factory team and customer teams, and 2 cars that we delivered to the new Kiro team, its predecessor It is the domestic ERT team. In the new season, they will use our gloriously retired GEN3 championship car to compete. This requires a lot of people and energy to be invested in it, and it requires teamwork. Of course, we can accumulate data from 6 cars in every race, which ultimately helps us improve and improve the performance of our cars faster.

8. (Ask Wehrlein) How many test laps do you typically need to achieve the data and results you want before reaching your limit?

Wehrlein: I hope it’s a lap, but for me, there aren’t many opportunities to run before I really reach my limit. Therefore, in the past week, I have practiced twice a day for 30 minutes each time, trying to make myselfReach an extremely high level. Your initial performance may be about 1.5 seconds slower than ideal. But as you continue to try, by exploring your limits and finding the right braking point, you will gradually get closer to that optimal state. This process is sometimes faster and sometimes slower, but I think that after completing about seven or eight laps of practice in the first stage, I should be very close to the limit of my new car.

There are many things to check when driving a new car for the first time. So the first few laps are not really about the performance of the car, but more like a new car inspection, including a comprehensive inspection of the power system, software, brakes, etc. Although these checks will take a little longer, as a professional driver, after running the first few laps, you should be very close to your ideal lap time.

9. I have previously communicated with other drivers who have experience driving F1 and FE, and they all reported that FE cars are more difficult to drive to some extent. May I ask, including the drivers and team management, how did the drivers overcome these problems?

Wehrlein: I agree from a driver's perspective, it's really harder to do a good job in balance. Although F1 cars are fast, they are also very well balanced. As a driver, you don't need to make corrections as often as you used to because the car is inherently stable.

Because FE cars are born with relatively insufficient downforce and grip, tires often lock up, and sometimes oversteer or understeer occurs. We have not yet found the perfect balance, and this is also very difficult. It is largely affected by the characteristics of the track, because the track we are used to is different. Most of our tracks are narrow, bumpy street races with many low-speed corners, but the Shanghai track is very different, with long curves and high speeds. Our car is not designed to handle a track like this and it is indeed a difficult challenge.

Florian Mollinger: Let me add a few points from the team's technical perspective. When we compare, we can find that the current F1 car has much more downforce than the previous car. The characteristic of downforce allows the car to regain balance when traveling at high speeds. This means that F1 cars can have good steering performance at low speeds. When the car is traveling at high speed, the rear of the car will sink due to the adjustment of the aerodynamic balance.This allows the car to remain stable at high speeds. This is different from FE because Formula E cars lack downforce. Therefore, we needed to find a set-up and configuration that would provide a short wheelbase that would allow the car to turn well at low speeds, yet remain stable at high speeds. But in this process, we are missing a key parameter, and that is downforce.

Driving at different speeds is therefore a huge challenge in itself. Software is required to set up the car's balance and performance, including assistance with braking. In addition, due to our limited space for independent research and development, many components of the cars are common between different teams. The competition for the championship is extremely fierce, and the victory or defeat often depends on the difference of one hundredth of a second or even one thousandth of a second, so we have to pay more attention to improving performance. But as you get closer and closer to the car's theoretical peak performance, you sacrifice driving comfort. And once you lower the performance requirements a bit, you get better driving agility because the car responds quickly over a wider speed range. The level of competition in FE is extremely high, so we have to do everything we can to gain that one percent advantage or even less.

10. How different will it be to race with a new generation of cars and their specifications? In this case, will it be easier for Porsche to gain an advantage over other teams

Florian Mollinger: In the past two years, we have invested a lot of money in fighting for championships and winning games. In addition to the GEN3 Evo, plans for the GEN4 racing car were also announced in May this year. We are doing our best to improve our racing components to gain an advantage over our competitors. This is a huge challenge, because some manufacturers may have entered the preparations for the new season early, or they may not have invested energy in GEN4 racing cars, but have invested a lot of resources in the current new season competition. So we need to operate efficiently within budget constraints and stay ahead of the curve. That's obviously our goal, but it will take two or three rounds before we see the results.

Reporter: So given the limited budget, what is the focus of research and development this year?

Florian Mollinger: Looking back at this year’s championship, the car has completed adaptability adjustments. We focused on the complete power transmission system, including: inverter, differential, and gearbox. Rear suspension, etc. use this to obtain stronger kinetic energy. IWe have improved all the components and the powertrain design has been completed. Now all that is left is the work on the software and control systems, especially the development of the vehicle control system, software functions and adaptation to the tires. This will be the start of the season. main goals and strategies.

In addition, if some games allow quick charging during the game (as specified in the rules), then strategic choice will also become an important point. We may see races with charging, and there will definitely be races without charging. Therefore, control, understanding, and strategy will be our primary areas of focus.