Japanese makers are looking to use race car events as a way to develop eco-friendly technologies which can then be applied to commercially available vehicles.

Yamaha Motor has signed a technical partnership agreement with the Britain-based Lola Cars to supply core parts, including motors, for its Formula E vehicles.

The Formula E world championship is known as the all-electric version of Formula One. It held its first ever such event in Japan last Saturday.

Yamaha plans to supply Lola with parts for the 2025 Formula E series, and then offer those parts to other manufacturers for use in passenger and commercial vehicles in the future.

Japanese automaker Nissan is already taking part in Formula E racing.

Another auto giant Toyota last year became the first company to enter a hydrogen-engine vehicle in a 24-hour endurance race.