NEOM, a futuristic city to be built in Saudi Arabia as part of the 'Vision 2030' process programmed by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will sponsor McLaren's electric division
Along with the announcement of the cars that will represent the team in Formula E and Extreme E racing next year, McLaren has announced an important partnership for its electric motorsport division. In partnership with NEOM - a futuristic city planned to be built in northeastern Saudi Arabia - the British team has announced the creation of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing.
The intention is to create a division that encompasses both branches of McLaren's participation in the electric categories, both Formula E and Extreme E. According to the team statement, "this represents a new era for McLaren in the team's venture into electric motorsport."
With the deal, McLaren will become one of the founding partners of OXAGON, a floating city that will sit on the Red Sea and be part of the NEOM city. The ambitious plans of Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman include turning OXAGON into a true manufacturing center, with a fully automated port, a modern industrial complex, and the "world's first integrated logistics center."
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The relationship between the parties also includes the use of the McLaren Accelerator, an analytical program that studies possibilities and anticipates them so that the team can solve possible problems. In the announcement of the partnership, the team indicates that the equipment will help in the development of 'Industry 4.0″, scored by NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr as the "Fourth Industrial Revolution".
"We are pleased to welcome the McLaren family to NEOM," celebrated Zak Brown, CEO of the British team. "This is an incredible way to kick-start our entry into Formula E and unify our electric racing categories. We are excited to introduce NEOM McLaren Electric Racing and to work with NEOM in fostering talent and innovation," he said.
"Working with OXAGON's innovation advances and the clean industries ecosystem will allow us to bring great contributions through our Accelerator program," commented Brown. "It exists to streamline performance data and translate it into the culture and thinking of our partners," he concluded.
With this, the full name of the team in the category will include the new partner: NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. Together with MCLaren MX Extreme E - renamed to NEOM McLaren Extreme E, the new NEOM McLaren Electric Racing, the company's full electric motorsport division, is formed.
"Our partnership with McLaren complements NEOM's commitment to creating sustainable solutions to attack some of society's most pressing challenges," explained Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM. "The partnership will allow us to share our resources collectively and experience encouraging results, not only for our organizations, but also for the automotive industry," he pointed out.
Learn more about NEOM:
The giant city NEOM is part of the Arabian prince's 'Vision 2030' project, which aims to create a futuristic environment fully guided by sustainability and with the most advanced technology available to humanity. And for this, the city has already received more than US$500 billion in investments for its construction.
The extremely ambitious plans for the city include sustainable energy production through solar panels and windmills, as well as efficient underground transportation, islands connected to the main city, and even an artificial moon. The idea is to turn the currently desert-like place into something innovative and totally secure, with personalized access through facial recognition and community neighborhoods.
