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Bertone Developing Battery Swap Tech for Endurance Racing

Company developing battery swap technology to allow electric cars in endurance racing…

Photo: Flymove Dianche

An Anglo-Italian company using the historic Bertone brand is developing rapid battery swap technology with a view to implementing it in electric vehicles for endurance racing.

Flymove Bertone Motorsport, a division of London-based Flymove Holding Limited, has started “preliminary feasibility studies” in order to develop battery swap technology in a racing car which could become a future Garage 56 entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Flymove Bertone expects its project to become the first fully electric racing car to use battery swap technology.

It’s claimed that the concept could allow for battery swaps in as little as 90 seconds with an on-track stint time of one hour, therefore allowing such a car to compete roughly on par with current ICE and hybrid racing cars.

The team is led by president Enric Codony, who brings considerable experience from Renault motorsport programs, while long-time F1 veteran Giuseppe Dorigo will work as team principal.

The project also includes long-time Formula 1 and sports car designer Sergio Rinland, while Bertone’s design team is led by Carlos Arroyo Turon.

Flymove recently obtained the license to use the Bertone name from French company AKKA Technologies, which is already involved in motorsport through its title sponsorship of GT3 and GT4 team AKKA ASP.

The team will be officially presented in fall this year, while the car is set to be launched in spring 2020 ahead of track-testing.

Flymove Bertone aims to participate in endurance races as soon as 2021 before possibly establishing a “stable position” in the FIA World Endurance Championship and a single-make series based on this technology.

The company has already revealed the Dianche GT (pictured above), a road car concept using battery swap technology and designed by Bertone.

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.

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