Roborace

Roborace

Roborace

Roborace

Roborace

There are less than two months to go until the start of Formula E's third season, which kicks off in Hong Kong on October 9. One of the more interesting things about Formula E's upcoming season is the new support series, Roborace. As the name suggests, it's a series for self-driving race cars, and the organizers have just unveiled the mule—called DevBot—that teams will use to develop their control software.

All of the Roborace teams will use identical Robocars, but each will develop its own control algorithms. The race cars are fully electric—in keeping with the ethos of Formula E—and have more than a little Speed Racer about them. But DevBot will look much more familiar to fans of sports car racing; it's a Le Mans-style prototype coupe, shown in the test photos without the front and rear bodywork.

DevBot also has a cockpit for a human driver, unlike the Robocars, but it does have the same powertrain, sensor suite, processors, and communication systems as the forthcoming autonomous race cars. DevBot is also fully electric, suggesting the handiwork of Drayson Racing Technologies. Several years ago, Drayson converted its Lola B10 Le Mans Prototype racer from internal combustion to electric power and has been involved in developing the technology used by Formula E.

Although DevBot has been testing in private for several months now, it will officially break cover later this week at the Formula E preseason test, being held at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, on August 24.

Listing image by Roborace