Mercedes-Benz displays a teaser of its first Formula E racing car in Switzerland and the United States.
Formula E Partnership
Last May, SAP announced a new multiyear agreement with Mercedes-Benz to become the official business performance partner of the automaker’s Mercedes EQ Formula E team in a relationship that will drive the co-innovation of new technology. The Mercedes EQ Formula E team will debut on the circuit in the 2019 season.
For those unfamiliar with racing, Formula E is an auto racing class for electric-powered cars. Mercedes-Benz debuted a teaser of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland which runs from March 7th to the 17th. The teaser car is also on display by Mercedes-Benz EQ at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.
“We are delighted to announce SAP as the first principal partner of our new Mercedes EQ Formula E team,” said Toto Wolff, head, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “Although we are still 18 months away from our first race, this new agreement demonstrates the commercial potential of the series and gives us a strong basis from which to begin our next phase of technical and sporting preparations for the Season 6 entry. This agreement will combine traditional brand value with the use of innovative technologies that will contribute meaningfully to our on-track performance.”
Support from SAP
As the official business performance partner, SAP will support the Mercedes EQ Formula E team with back-office solutions and new innovations for the racing team based on SAP technology. SAP and Mercedes EQ engineers intend to use the SAP HANA business data platform to develop technology solutions to help the team analyse large volumes of data and monitor overall performance. The engineers may also make use of additional features and functions provided by SAP Cloud Platform and SAP Leonardo technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), predictive, and machine learning capabilities during the co-innovation process.
“SAP’s focus on sustainability is an integral part of our vision and purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Sustainable mobility is an important step on our way to carbon neutrality. Therefore, we aim for 20 percent electric cars in SAP’s car fleet by 2020 and to drive innovative IT solutions connected to e-mobility,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation, SAP. “We look forward to integrating SAP technology innovations in the new Mercedes EQ Formula E race car. Mercedes-Benz and SAP both aim to create a more sustainable future for our customers, partners and society with the help of new digital technologies.”
