Audi, BMW and Mercedes agree that electric power is not an option for DTM

All three manufacturers currently involved in the DTM, Audi, BMW and Mercedes, have current or future plans to compete in the single seater electric series Formula E. But none the three manufacturers see DTM going electric in the short term.

“I think DTM as a premium touring car championship with an electric engine could be in a possibility, but not in two years’ time,” Audi Motorsport boss Dieter Gass told TouringCarTimes. “We certainly have to look at using sustainable technologies but, for the foreseeable years, I don’t think DTM is going to become electric.”

Gass is also wary about the market need for electric series: “It’s important we have Formula E, but the market cannot be flooded with electric championships, this is something that’s not going to work because you aren’t going to find the people to participate. In the current situation, with the view on private teams, you would struggle to find manufacturers for so many championships and manufacturers will only participate in a limited amount of championships.

“I don’t think the tendency towards electric powertrains is a threat to DTM, because you can have a sustainable championship with a combustion engine, and that’s what you have to work on. The trend will increase but the forecast is that a 30% of the cars sold will be electric by 2025, that’s seven years away, and you’ll still have 80% of cars on the road with a combustion engine,” added Gass.

BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt is of a similar opinion. “It’s important to debate and we know the future of mobility is a mixed solution, as the future of motorsport is mixed as well. I think that as long as we have races like today (Sunday Hockenheim I) and we have road cars like this, you have to accept that there is a time and a place for everything,” Marquardt told TouringCarTimes.

Marquardt is also concerned about the cost of such a move, which could push potential entrants away rather than attracting them to the DTM.

“Formula E is great, they are in the cities, where electric mobility is a concern. But there are also constrains. Right now, developing a fully electrified touring car is extremely expensive, if not impossible. We’ve reached the pinnacle now with efficiency, tight racing and cost reduction. So there is a place for everything. In 10 years’ time we might be talking a different story, but right now this is what we have,” concluded Marquardt.

Ulrich Fritz, head of Mercedes AMG in the DTM and also of Team HWA, thinks there could be different options. “Prospectively, not for tomorrow, but for the future, a hybrid system could be possible, so you can combine a combustion engine with an electric one and, if it goes fully electric, we are ready.”

But Fritz also believes that such a move would make a big impact on the show the DTM brings to the fans: “I think the question is why are the fans here, and one of the things is the engine noise. So the question is whether it’s worth to take away all this pedigree away from the series.”