Italian tech firm Magneti Marelli will supply motors to three Formula E constructors for the 2016-17 season.

Mahindra Racing is so far the only team to confirm a technical partnership with the company. The Indian outfit has replacing the upgraded McLaren unit it ran throughout season two with the Magnetti unit as well as selecting a new transmission partner. The team’s M3Electro will therefore feature hundreds of new parts.

Paddock sources also connect the Magneti unit to two other teams, however: Dragon Racing and MS Amlin Andretti.

Dragon Racing has submitted a powertrain for homologation, named for owner Jay Penske; Current E understands from multiple sources that it features Magneti motors and a powertrain configuration very similar to that developed by Mahindra. While the American team has signed up EV start-up Faraday Future as a headline sponsor, that company’s technology won’t begin to filter through until season four at the earliest.

Andretti had worked with Houston Mechatronics on its ill-fated second season powertrain, with that relationship ending in the aftermath of the team’s troubled collective testing sessions at Donington Park last summer. We believe that Magneti has supplied motors and inverters for the team’s third season powertrain, although possibly to a different specification to those found at Mahindra and Dragon. The team declined to comment when asked.

As ever, we’ll bring you more when we’ve hunted down the details.

Luke Smith