Jaguar TCS Racing became the first team in the history of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Monaco E-Prix to run re-refined transmission fluid, something they’d been working towards with long-time partner Castrol.
At the Circuit de Monaco at the start of May, the Coventry-based team successfully completed the iconic E-Prix using re-refined Castrol ON EV Transmission Fluid in its cars, becoming the first team in the series to make use of a circular transmission fluid.
It is a meteoric achievement which Jaguar and Castrol have been working tirelessly towards since 2019, when Castrol became the manufacturer’s official EV-fluids partner.
“The use of re-refined EV transmission fluid is a great demonstration of circularity in action on the race track and supports the wider company ambition to adopt circular economy principles so we can reduce the use of virgin materials,” said Rosella Cardone, Director and Head of Sustainability Office at JLR.
“We have a clear aim to achieve carbon net zero by 2039 and embed sustainability into the JLR DNA.”
Prior to its successful operation in Monaco, Jaguar and Castrol trialled the re-refined transmission fluid during testing at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit in Berlin, with it having clearly worked as expected given that it was confidently used in Monaco.
The EV transmission fluid was created using waste transmission fluid from Jaguar’s testing and development running throughout the season, with it having then been remarkably re-refined to gather its main constituent base oil. This is then mixed with performance additives before being added to the Jaguar I-TYPE 6’s gearbox, instead of the traditional fluid which contains virgin base oil.
Jaguar and Castrol will continue to collect valuable data to gain an even better understanding and widen their knowledge of circular transmission fluid systems, before hopefully in the near future using the techniques used on the British manufacturer’s road cars.
“We are immensely proud to be the first motorsport team in Formula E to deploy this circular process, by using the re-refined base oil, to a race car and set the standard for pioneering circularity within the paddock,” said Jaguar team boss James Barclay.
“In this World Championship with incredible competition, we cannot compromise on performance, so the successful use of a circular oil without compromise is a gamechanger. I believe this is a key discovery and helps us learn what is possible when pushing the boundaries of EV Fluids for the benefit future road cars.”
