The new Gen3 era of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with ABB as Official Charging Partner, as the series returned to Mexico City for the first round of Season 9.
Twenty-two all-new Gen3 race cars will compete on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City. The high-speed track, featuring long straights coupled with a succession of tight corners in the Foro Sol stadium, is ideally suited to showcase the performance of the Championship’s new racer. It is also the most elevated circuit of the season at 2,250m above sea level.
Daniela Lužanin, Head of the ABB Formula E partnership, said: “Returning to Mexico City with its incredible atmosphere and passionate fans is an ideal location to kick-off what is an important milestone for ABB in our partnership with Formula E – our first race as Official Charging Partner. Now, more than ever, we are able to use the series as a platform to help push the boundaries of technology and create a more sustainable future.”
Ahead of the first race of the Gen3 era, ABB E-mobility CEO, Frank Muehlon, gives insight into the new ABB Formula E Race Charger. In the latest episode of the company’s podcast, ABB Decoded, Muehlon discusses the charging technology development, the challenges of producing a charger for a highly pressured motorsport environment, and the learnings for ABB road charging technology. The podcast also explores the vast progress made in EV infrastructure over the past 15 years and the next steps to further encourage and facilitate EV adoption.
ABB in Mexico
ABB began operations in Mexico more than 75 years ago and since then has been implementing innovative technology in the country to help create a more sustainable future. Today, ABB has more than 5,000 employees in Mexico and has completed numerous major projects in areas such as electrical infrastructure, smart ports, renewable energy, energy efficiency and e-mobility.
One example of this contribution through technology is an electrical energy transformation and monitoring system, installed in a new plant in Veracruz for one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies. The introduction of the system resulted in a reduction in energy consumption and maintenance in addition to an increase in the reliability of power. The combination of technology solutions provided enabled a 30 percent space reduction and 70 percent savings in maintenance, in addition to an increase of reliability by 40 percent and an increase in safety of 70 percent.
In the Mexican municipality of Ecatepec, which has a population of almost 2 million, new mobility solutions were required to navigate its irregular territory. Since 2014, ABB has been collaborating with the Mexicable company and the government of the State of Mexico to develop the first cable car line for mass transportation of people in Mexico. This means of electric transportation has improved the quality of life for the area’s inhabitants by reducing travel times to a maximum of 29 minutes on previously long and unsafe routes.
FIA Girls on Track
This season, ABB is continuing its successful video series for FIA Girls on Track presented by Hankook, of which ABB is global partner. The first video for 2023 features Julia Pallé, Sustainability Director at Formula E, who explains her role, her career path and the importance of initiatives like FIA Girls on Track.
For the second year running, ABB will be supporting the FIA Girls on Track event taking place at the circuit which will offer girls aged 12 to 18 the opportunity to explore the different aspects of the motorsport industry through a set of activities and workshops. ABB is again running a workshop focused on ABB robotics, featuring one of the company’s most innovative collaborative robots – YuMi. This season, ABB is also adding an additional workshop from its Electrification business which will showcase ABB’s charging technology.
Following the race in Mexico City, the series will head to Diriyah, Saudi Arabia at the end of the month for a double-header held on the historic streets at night. The season calendar comprises 16 races in 11 global locations, including new host cities: Hyderabad, Cape Town, São Paulo and Portland.
