McLaren is one of the dominant forces in racing, with its Formula One team second only to Ferrari in motorsport’s highest echelon when it comes to the total number of wins.

What many readers may not know, however, is that McLaren is much more than just a race team.

In fact, McLaren has recently formed a new road car division, McLaren Automotive, while its McLaren Electronic Systems group has been providing electric components, namely control units, to teams in various motorsport categories for years, including in F1, Indycar and NASCAR.

Now, McLaren Electronic Systems has been picked as the supplier of electric motors, transmissions and electronic control units for the upcoming Formula E Championship, the FIA’s first sanctioned racing series for electric cars.

McLaren Electronic Systems will be working with Spark Racing Technology to help develop the electric formula race cars, which will be built by Formulec and based on the French firm’s EF01 prototype.

In a statement, McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh said, I’m a passionate believer in the role that motorsport can play in showcasing and spearheading the development of future technologies, and regard the Formula E concept as an exciting innovation for global motorsport.”

A total of 10 teams and 20 drivers are expected to compete in the inaugural season of Formula E, which is currently scheduled for 2014. Demonstration races will start in the latter parts of next year, and testing of the cars is already well underway.