Porsche wants to set up 2nd Formula E team without additional investment: "We will reshuffle resources"

At the end of last year, Porsche announced that it would compete in Formula E with two instead of just one works team from season 13. Porsche is already the most influential manufacturer in the series with six cars on the grid: Andretti and Cupra Kiro also rely on the powertrains of the German manufacturer. In the coming season, however, only one of the two current customer teams will be supplied with powertrains in addition to the two works teams.

Porsche is now talking about fielding these two works teams with the same budget as this season. The aim is a cost-neutral involvement in the series. The requirements for this approach came from the very top, as Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E at Porsche, explained to motorsport.com: "We have a clear job to do from our Board, which we accepted. It must be cost-neutral."

Only one Porsche customer team in 2026/27

In order to ensure cost neutrality, it will not be possible to provide drives for eight cars in season 13. The investments that currently flow into the customer programme must be redistributed and flow into the second works team: "We will reshuffle resources, which are at the moment there to support the customer teams."

There have been rumours for some time that Andretti may run with Nissan power units next season. This would leave Cupra Kiro as the only customer team. Modlinger confirmed this assumption: "First of all, we will not increase the number of cars we have on the grid. We have six Porsche 99X Electrics. We will also have six in the future."

Second works team as a talent factory

There was great excitement in the fan community shortly after the announcement of the dual involvement in Formula E because the German brand had cancelled its WEC project just a few weeks earlier. Modlinger explains that the decisions had no influence on each other: "This was a project decision from the company that we reshuffle our Formula E engagement and how we operate, and it's completely separated from the other decision."

The focus of the second works team in Formula E is not necessarily to compete with the existing team. Rather, it is intended to make it easier for both drivers and team members to enter Formula E: "In Formula E, it is quite tricky for rookies to deliver in their first season and to contribute big points, as we saw in the past", describes Modlinger, also referring to Porsche reserve driver David Beckmann, who drove a season as a regular driver for Cupra Kiro in 2024/25. "This second team gives us more opportunity for young talents but also to write additional stories, to bring new partners and new sponsors in."

Formula E continues from 21 March. The first race weekend in Madrid will be followed by the rookie test of the 2025/26 season, where Ayhancan Güven and Elia Weiss have already been confirmed for Porsche. A strong performance could potentially open up opportunities for them in the second team.