Formula E’s new powertrains have already made season two an exciting technical spectacle. In this new weekly series, our tech editor Scarbs gets under their skins to explore their secrets.

Underneath their brightly coloured skins, all Formula E racing cars were identical in the first season. They were powered by a drivetrain put together by a consortium working under Spark Racing Technology, a start-up founded by the tech wizards at respected racing firm ART for the Formula E project.

While the brief to build an entire grid full of all-electric, single-seater racing cars was pretty new, the partners already had some idea of what they were doing. You may have heard of one or two of them: Williams supplied the battery (which shares DNA with Williams’ F1 KERS systems and the sinuous, futuristic Jaguar C-X75 hybrid prototype seen in the most recent Bond film); McLaren provided the motor (sourced from the physics-defying P1 hypercar) and control electronics; Renault advised on electronics integration; Dallara built the complex battery safety cell (and chassis); and Hewland worked with McLaren on the five speed gearbox. If this was a sports team, you’d fancy your chances at a title shot.

The game has changed in the sport’s second season, however. Powertrain development has been opened up to new manufacturers and they haven’t been shy about coming forwards. Renault Sport, the division of the French car maker responsible for its loony road car-slash-track day monsters as well as its F1 programme, has moved in with a rather substantial budget. Citroen has pitched up with its DS brand to partner Virgin. Audi and VW are nibbling at the edges with some engineering, financial and driver support for the ABT team. NextEV is an automotive start-up but appears to have wealthy patrons. Although it has yet to do a blank sheet Formula E design, Mahindra is a manufacturing colossus. Venturi is a much smaller affair than many of the others but holds the outright land speed record for an electric vehicle with its VBB programme.

Under season two regulations, new manufacturers have been able to get their hands on the electric motor (known as a motor generator unit), inverter and control software, rear suspension and gearbox. All must be packaged within the existing chassis, which is why there appears to be little change from the outside.

Each powertrain has been homologated by the FIA which means that, despite their experimental designs, they must last the entire season. In-season development is not allowed, apart from extreme circumstances (safety, mostly) and where sanctioned by the FIA.

The breadth of powertrain solutions on display demonstrates that the jury is out when it comes to which is the best way to build a fast, reliable electric car.

(Although Renault appears to be running away with the season, much of that car’s advantage can be found in its lightweight design, which uses lashings of carbon fibre; and in the vast mechanical set-up experience of the DAMS operating team, which was ably demonstrated with a crushing victory last season despite the use of spec powertrains).

The fact that two manufacturers failed to get their technology working at all (Andretti and Trulli, with Trulli withdrawing from the series completely by the third race) shows just how difficult a task it is to get right, despite relatively open technical regulations.

These season two powertrains give us a mere glimpse into what is possible with today’s technology, as well a hint about the tech of tomorrow. In the future, we may well be talking about radial and axial flux motors in the same way that we discuss naturally aspirated V8s or turbo flat fours; AC or DC power in the same way as petrol or diesel.

Now that Jaguar has confirmed it will be entering the sport with a works team, it will be intriguing to see whether powertrain configurations begin to converge or diverge over the coming seasons. Indeed, although we’re only three races into the second Formula E season, work is well underway on a new crop of powertrain technologies, which will emerge in public for the first time later this year at summer testing at Donington Park.

We’ll explore every one of Formula E’s new generation of powertrains with technical drawings and analysis, beginning later this week. There are a few surprises hiding under the fairings so stay tuned.