Kraftwerk Berlin (GER) recently hosted the renowned Greentech Festival, which focused on future technologies and sustainability. BMW i Motorsport had their own exhibition area, in which exhibits included the BMW iFE.20 and a BMW i drivetrain from the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.
Visitors to the Greentech Festival had the opportunity to take a close look at both cars, with which BMW i Andretti Motorsport won three races in the last Formula E season, and the highly-efficient BMW i drivetrain – Racing eDrive02.
Within the BMW Group, the BMW i FE.20 served as a tech lab for future generations of electrified and electric vehicles. The technology transfer between motor racing and product development is a central pillar of BMW i Motorsport’s involvement in Formula E.
Within a technological cycle, the BMW i engineers developing future production drivetrains benefit hugely from the technical knowledge acquired through the extreme application of this technology in Formula E.
For those visitors to the Greentech Festival who were not just interested in the theory behind these future technologies, the state-of-the-art Fanatec racing simulators at the exhibition site are another major attraction.
Here, you can have an incredibly realistic experience of how it feels to be at the steering wheel of the BMW iFE.20 fully-electric race car. The simulation on the virtual Formula E racetrack at Berlin-Tempelhof is so realistic that Formula E drivers used it to go head to head in the ‘ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge’ when the coronavirus pandemic forced a break in racing.
The closeness to reality, as well as the future-oriented technologies and concepts, are among the reasons why BMW Motorsport SIM Racing has become a central pillar of the BMW Motorsport programme, along with real racing series.
Another highlight of the exhibition area was the BMW i3 Urban Suite. With this car, the BMW Group is presenting a mobility experience completely tailored to the individual needs of its passengers. To make this possible, a production BMW i3 had been completely redesigned, with the exception of the driver’s seat and dashboard, giving the interior a similar relaxed atmosphere to that of a boutique hotel.
