Autonomous Roborace car unveiled

The all electric autonomous Roborace car has been unveiled, which will debut as part of the Formula E championship.

It is the first race car developed that does not need to accommodate a driver, and chief design officer took cues from his work on Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion to develop the futuristic design.

10 teams will run two cars each, which will take part in one hour races set to take place before Formula E races. The Roborace competition will run for the duration of the championship, with the aim of helping to accelerate the development of autonomous driving systems.

All cars will be the same, at least for the first iteration, with teams tasked with developing new software and technologies to improve the performance of their vehicles and get them over the finish line in first place.

Simon said: “My goal was to create a vehicle that takes full advantage of the unusual opportunities of having no driver without ever compromising on beauty. Racing engineers and aerodynamicists have worked with me from the beginning to strike that balance. The Roborace is as much about competition as it is entertainment. Therefore - and quite unusual in today’s racing world - beauty was very high on our agenda and we work hard to merge the best performance with stunning styling. It was important to us that we generate substantial downforce without unnecessary parts cluttering the car to maintain a clean and iconic look. This is largely made possible by using the floor as the main aerodynamic device and we are currently developing active body parts that are more organic and seamless than solutions today. I am excited to be part of the daring team of people who are making this happen.”

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