AVL RACETECH and PENSKE AUTOSPORT Formula E Announce Official Partnership in Vehicle Simulation Software

Graz, Austria, 16th of May 2025 – AVL RACETECH, the motorsport division of the Austrian engineering service provider AVL, and PENSKE AUTOSPORT, the Race Team operators for the DS AUTOMOBILES Formula E World Championship entry, are expanding their successful collaboration. Building on the AVL VSM™ RACE simulation solution already in use, both partners are now jointly developing an optimized energy management system. The partnership between AVL RACETECH and PENSKE AUTOSPORT is designed for long-term cooperation.

Race strategy and energy efficiency are key factors for success in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. In both areas, the PENSKE AUTOSPORT Formula E team can count on strong support from AVL RACETECH. The French-American team has been using the AVL VSM™ RACE software for some time to prepare for races, optimize lap times and energy management.

The proven vehicle dynamics simulation tool is deployed at PENSKE AUTOSPORT in a new multi-driving simulator setup, developed in collaboration with their mutual partner Ansible Motion. Thanks to AVL VSM™ RACE’s unique architecture, up to five high-end driving simulators were linked within a unified environment. This enables realistic reproduction of multi-vehicle interactions, integrating valuable insights into development and race strategy processes.

A core focus of the collaboration between AVL RACETECH and PENSKE AUTOSPORT is the optimization of the energy management system. The key to this lies in a highly precise virtual model of the current Formula E race car. Based on this model, intelligent algorithms are developed to continuously analyze and optimize the available energy harvest and deployment. Through simulation, the optimal energy management strategy for real-world races can be further refined. The overarching goal is to achieve the perfect balance between energy efficiency and lap time, maximizing the vehicle’s potential.

Phil Charles, Team President, PENSKE AUTOSPORT:
"I am very pleased with the work we are doing with our simulation partner AVL RACETECH. The AVL VSM™ RACE vehicle model provided by AVL is a fantastic addition to our team. Our simulators and simulation capabilities are a huge asset to us, and AVL VSM™ RACE is at the heart of these activities."

Guillermo F. Pezzetto, Global Sales and Business Development Manager, AVL RACETECH:
"Formula E is a perfect use case for our AVL VSM™ RACE vehicle dynamics simulation software, where it is key to not only have an extremely precise correlation for the energy usage, but also to have one single simulation model that runs in every application like office laptop, cloud, DiL and testbed without any modification or simplification. Additionally, AVL VSM™ RACE allows PENSKE AUTOSPORT to add their own models to customize their application to their specific needs, enhancing the final results."

Julian A. Garcia-Grajales, Head of Research and Development, PENSKE AUTOSPORT:
"Energy management is the key to success in Formula E. To develop the best possible energy management system, we need a highly accurate virtual representation of the vehicle and its systems. We are working closely with our partner AVL RACETECH to create an incredibly precise virtual model of the car, which we can use in offline simulation and our simulators. We are also developing energy optimization algorithms that serve as the foundation for our analysis, development, and improvement of energy management."

Ellen Lohr, Director Motorsport, AVL:
"We are happy to contribute to PENSKE AUTOSPORT's on-track success with our tools and services. Formula E is one of the 17 racing series we are involved in, and we are pleased to now have an official and notable partner in electric racing – just as we already have in F2, F3, WEC and ELMS. Our long-term communication goal is to expand this type of visible partnerships to even more teams across all the major race categories we are working in."