The advancement of electric vehicles in motorsports may have just taken a giant step forward thanks to a new partnership between Fueltech and WEG. The partnership would usher in a substantial investment into technology development that would further EV advancements within the motorsports world.
The press release distributed on Friday, September 27, 2019 reads:
Today a partnership was announced between WEG S.A. (WEGE3), global electronic components supplier and Brazil’s biggest electric engine and inverter fabricator; and FuelTech LTDA, a multinational company based in Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil) with a branch in Georgia (USA). Established 16 years ago, FuelTech is a world renowned engine management systems technology developer for high performance combustion engine applications.
The agreement foresees investing on the development and delivery of technology and products like electric motors, inverters, ECU (engine control units), batteries and battery management systems; allowing the electrification of vehicles both in motorsports and passenger cars alike. WEG will provide well-known products such as the WEG Electric Powertrain System, motors and auxiliary inverters while further developing new products bringing the large scale electric vehicle conversion closer to reality in the near future.
Recently, FuelTech created a Research and Development division dedicated to motorsports electrification and now wants to innovate in the electrical propulsion management segment both on its primary market and the passenger car electrical vehicle conversions.
“The future of the automobile is electric and we want to use our know-how from motorsports, alongside our global network of certified technicians, to offer efficient, innovative and sustainable solutions for both passenger and the motorsport industry”, says Anderson Frederico Dick, FuelTech CEO.
“We believe this partnership allows innovative projects that will be a big step towards sustainability for our planet”, adds Leonardo Prianti Fontolan, Executive Director of FuelTech.
“The partnership with FuelTech will allow product development towards large scale electrification of vehicles equipped with combustion engines into reality in the near future”, emphasizes Manfred Peter Johann, Superintendent Director of WEG Automation.
If you aren’t familiar with WEG, the Brazil-based global electric and electronic equipment company was established in 1961. Its focus is primarily based on capital goods with solutions comprised of electrical machinery, automation and paint, for different sectors including infrastructure, siderurgy, pulp and paper, gas and oil, mining and others. WEG excels in innovation; constantly developing trending solutions of energy efficiency, renewables and electrical mobility. With industrial installations in 12 countries and commercial operations in 135 others, the company employs 35 thousand people around the world.
It’s exciting to see potential advancements in racing-based EV vehicles. FuelTech has built such a strong name and reputation in the racing world, and it will be interesting to see what technology they will help usher into the drag racing world.
This story was originally published on October 2, 2019. 
