The Porsche Taycan Is Formula E’s New Safety Car For The 2022 Season

Porsche and Formula E today revealed the Taycan as the new official safety car for the electric, open-wheel racing series. The all-electric Taycan will lead the series’ race cars starting on January 28-29 at the season opener in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

“We’re proud that Formula E has entrusted a Porsche with this task,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “With the Taycan Turbo S as the official safety car, we’re making an important contribution to track safety and also underlining the importance of Formula E for Porsche Motorsport.”

Porsche developed the car’s livery specifically for the series. Although the rear quarter linework may be vaguely reminiscent of the Rothmans livery famously associated with the automaker, the color scheme is actually a nod to the teams currently racing in the series as it features the colors of every car on the grid.

“The distinctive design illustrates our commitment to the successful future of this innovative racing series,” said Laudenbach. “Although we’re rivals out on the track, we’re spreading this message to the world together. What’s more, we hope that this also enables us to appeal to a younger target audience who are not yet motorsport fans.”

Formula E’s new safety car is a Taycan Turbo S, which means its motors make 751 hp (761 PS/560 kW). From the factory, the range-topping Taycan can launch from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.8 seconds, which incidentally, is exactly the same amount of time as the Formula E race cars.

The model has been modified, though, to feature a roll cage and bucket seats with six-point seatbelts for Bruno Correia, Formula E’s longstanding safety car driver. He also gets a fire extinguisher and a high-tech communications system. To communicate with the cars on track, the Taycan also has a safety car lighting system and flashing lights that are integrated into the bumpers, as well as a Marelli Logger System.

“Formula E is delighted the Porsche Taycan Turbo S will serve as the Championship’s safety car from Season 8,” says Jamie Reigle, CEO of Formula E. “In designing the Formula E safety car, Porsche reimagined the critical on-track safety function to be a powerful symbol of the championship’s commitment to an electrified future and the unity of the competitors in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.”