FIA Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi has been named the new CEO of Roborace, the autonomous electric driving platform.
Roborace was unveiled in November 2015 as a new project to advance autonomous vehicle technology in conjunction with Formula E, the world’s first all-electric single-seater championship.
A series of tests have taken place with a modified Ginetta LMP3 chassis, dubbed a ‘DevBot’, at Formula E events through season three, with the futuristic-looking ‘Robocar’ set to appear at season four events.
Di Grassi was named as Roborace’s new CEO at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this week, expanding his business interests outside of his racing career.
“We want to take Roborace where motorsport cannot go, focusing the platform on future road-relevant autonomous technology. The future of mobility is autonomous, that’s an industry consensus now,” di Grassi said.
“In the same way, I believe that motorsport is about the driver, who is the best human being behind the wheel. I want to develop the Roborace series to be complimentary to traditional motorsport, and not to replace it.
“We invite the OEMs, suppliers, technology companies and universities to use our platform to showcase their technology and intellectual capacity in driverless systems. With the technology evolving so fast we must remain flexible on the events, races and challenges we are promoting.”
Di Grassi takes over as CEO from Roborace founder Denis Sverdlov, who will move into an advisory role in order to focus on other projects.