STICKER SHOCK

CEO hoping to see a race in the company’s hometown

Local EV maker in the races

BROOKLYN, N.Y. The timing couldn’t have been better for Vancouverbased electric vehicle manufacturer Meccanica.

Last Saturday, the first of two race days on the final weekend of the 2018 Formula E season, Meccanica execs Jerry Kroll and Henry Reisner were in the pits to apply sponsorship stickers to the front wings of the two Techeetah electric racers. Mere hours later one of those cars, piloted by Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, took the checkered flag to claim the race victory, and the drivers’ championship.

“I’ve waited the whole season for this,” said Vergne following the victory. “Really, I have no idea what it means to me to be champion — I need more time to take it all in.”

A day later, Meccanica CEO Kroll was back in the pits awaiting the start of the final race of the season and Techeetah’s possible clinching of the team title. But it was not to be as Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler edged Techeetah 264 to 262 in the 12-race series when the dust had settled.

Undaunted, Kroll has big plans for not just Meccanica’s involvement in the global open-wheel city, but also his hometown’s.

“Now, to get a Formula E race into Vancouver, and a Vancouver driver into the Formula E Championship,” Kroll said.

On that former subject, I did see a couple of Vancouver movers and shakers in the Formula E pits last weekend, fuelling rumours that a proposal is being put together to present to the FIA to bring the electric racing series to Vancouver.

In other Meccanica news, the company has announced a partnership with Harbour Air Seaplanes to make their all-electric Solo commuter cars available in a car share program at the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre.

“We pride ourselves on our forward-thinking approach to our operations and environmental stewardship,” said Chad Wetsch, executive vice-president of Harbour Air Seaplanes. “This partnership is another example of our commitment to innovation and sustainability.”

Meccanica is hosting an open house at its head office (102 East 1st Ave., Vancouver) on July 28 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

ANDREW McCREDIE Meccanica CEO Jerry Kroll, left, COO Henry Reisner and his daughter Ivy show off one of their cars in the Techeetah pits last Saturday at the Formula-E race in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Vancouver-based company put new sponsorship decals on the team’s two cars before the electric series’ penultimate race later that day, which was won by Techeetah driver Jean-Eric Vergne, who clinched the drivers’ championship.