Lotus Engineering, the world-renowned engineering consultancy arm of Group Lotus, is joining Jenson Button’s Extreme E team in this radical new electric off-roading series as technical partner.
Lotus Engineering is well-known for its dedication to cutting-edge technology and motor racing pedigree, and for driving creativity in the automotive industry and beyond.
JBXE Racing looks forward to collaborate with Lotus Engineering to promote electrification and highlight the importance of sustainable solutions to help protect and preserve the planet.
Jenson Button, the founder of JBXE Racing and the 2009 FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ World Champion, and Mikaela hlin-Kottulinsky, a multiple Scandinavian Touring Car race winner, are preparing to participate in the first race of the 2021 Extreme E Championship later this week – the Desert X Prix takes place from 03 – 04 April in AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
Jenson Button said: “Lotus is a great British brand that is inextricably linked to motorsport, so we are delighted to welcome Lotus Engineering to JBXE. Extreme E is a unique and exciting formula, full of “world firsts” and challenges, and to announce that a brand such as Lotus Engineering is coming on this journey with us is a proud moment for myself and the team. We are very excited about our new technical partnership and can’t wait to show what we can do in the first race this weekend.”
Matt Windle, Managing Director, Lotus Cars, commented: “We are on the cusp of an exciting new era of electrified motorsport, and we’re delighted to support the JBXE team as Technical Partner. The complex technicalities of EV racing present a fascinating challenge, and using our learnings from more than a decade of electrifying sports cars – most recently with the Lotus Evija hypercar – we can bring valuable knowledge to the team.”
He added: “As the consultancy arm of our business, Lotus Engineering is growing from strength to strength with multiple major projects underway and a new home at the Lotus Advanced Technical Centre in Warwickshire. Supporting the JBXE team is another valuable demonstration of Lotus Engineering’s wide portfolio of interests – in this case, electrified motorsport. We look forward to sharing the journey together and experiencing the next phase of electric racing with an equally admirable sustainability agenda.”
Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E said: “It’s fantastic that Lotus Engineering is entering Extreme E alongside Jenson Button’s JBXE team. The long-term success of our series relies on bringing in top automotive manufacturers to utilise our extreme racing platform as a testbed for accelerating electric mobility innovation for the wider industry. Lotus Engineering brings a wealth of experience in electrification and will no doubt prove a huge asset to the JBXE team. Welcome to the Extreme E family Lotus!”
