The Andretti Formula E team appear to have hit the ground running for season three of the Formula E Championship after successfully testing with their 2016/2017 powertrain at Snetterton.
Reverting back to the McLaren-bespoke season one powertrain after numerous technical problems with their own bespoke unit, Amlin Andretti’s ATEC-02 will be the team’s first design to compete against the might of Venturi and factory teams DS Virgin and Renault e.Dams.
Qualifying and test runs of the ATEC-02 were said to have been run without any major hitches according to Amlin Andretti team principal, Roger Griffiths.
“So far all indications are very good,” said Griffiths. “We have already achieved several hundred kilometres of running in testing and have run at race and qualifying power levels without a problem. All the systems are functioning as to be expected.”
Despite having lost a season to their competitors, Griffiths also believes the ATEC-02 regen system is right on track.
“We have a new MGU (e-Motor), power invertor, motor housing, gearbox and associated systems as well as a new cooling system” Griffiths added. We took the additional regen rules into account when we designed the new powertrain. In fact, if need be it can cope with more than the level required.”
A major issue for Andretti this year has been thermal energy, but may have got around this by applying the same SiC inverter technology being experimented with at Venturi.
SIC’s thermal resistance makes it an attractive alternative for hard-wearing machinery, including military systems, geothermal plants, and robotic spacecraft.