Who let the cogs out?

‘Developing a Formula E gearbox is a very long process because we are not optimising a known architecture’

If you were to ask anyone which technologies have progressed the most throughout the first five seasons of Formula E, they would probably reply ‘motor efficiency and battery capacity’, and they would be correct. But this enhanced capability of the motors, together with the increased freedom of the regulations, has also driven significant developments within the transmission, and today’s single-speed Formula E gearboxes are now achieving incredible efficiencies and are a world away from the regulated 5-speed unit that was first introduced in season one.

‘We have to lose as little energy as possible through the transmission to maximise the transfer of torque from the motor to the wheels’

‘It’s interesting to analyse the transmission because most of the time in Formula E we talk about the progress on the electrical side,’ says Thomas Chevaucher, technical director at DS Techeetah, which won the 2018/19 drivers’ and teams’ championships. ‘But the transmission has evolved a lot throughout the history of Formula E and it is difficult to imagine the steps of development that have been made so far. The main reason for this is because the improvements in electric technology have allowed the transmission to progress. At the level we are now at in Formula E, what you gain or lose in the transmission is more than what you can gain or lose on the electric side, so the transmission is an important part of the overall powertrain performance.’

’Box of tricks

A transmission effectively transmits the input torque from the engine or motor to the wheels. It achieves this through several gear ratios which provide the precise amount of torque to the wheels to allow the vehicle to accelerate whilst remaining within the most efficient RPM range of the engine or motor.

‘We know the location of the motor axis and