Pre-season testing is underway for Season 9 in Formula E, with teams and drivers alike getting a first sustained chance to get to grips with the new Gen3 cars across the course of the week in Valencia, Spain.
Faster and lighter vehicles mark a new era in the motorsport championship, the third iteration of electric vehicles in less than a decade since the series’ inception.
In 2023 races will take place in brand new locations including Sao Paulo, Brazil and Hyderabad, India - but keeping a weekend on the calendar which takes place in the United States was critical to the sport’s continued growth, as well as its ability to meaningfully impact on a key demographic.
That’s the opinion of Roger Griffiths, team boss at Avalanche Andretti, who points out that along with the number of potential fans there, the size of the addressable EV market Stateside makes it a vital support base to keep engaged with the championship. One of Formula E’s principle tenets is to promote the importance and feasibility of EVs, particularly in cities and built-up areas affected by pollution.
“It is critical for us to be represented in the USA, not just for Andretti but for the whole of Formula E,” Griffiths said in Valencia. “We’ve seen how other championships are expanding within the USA, it is not only one of the largest car markets in the world, but also one of the largest EV markets in the world.
“If you look at where the EV companies are based, they’re all on the West Coast. I think it’s key to have a foothold there. Portland, Oregon is producing very exciting racing in IndyCar, it has the right feel of the street circuit nature, so hopefully it will suit the car as well and engage a different fan base from what we initially had in New York on the East Coast.”
While the twin nature of Formula E - racing with a reason - makes it important for the teams and organisers to balance the appeal of the championship with the ideals behind EVs and sustainability, there’s another important point when it comes to attracting fans.
That, as driver Lucas di Grassi points out, is fairly simple: quality of races, ability of racers and speed on show.
In that regard, FE is right at the top, the now-Mahindra Racing driver believes.
“The level of drivers in Formula E is second to none in motorsport. From the very beginning we have had the best drivers who have won everything in their junior career,” he said at pre-season testing. “We now have Nyck [de Vries] who finished ninth last year, went to Formula 1 and did a fantastic job, and we have some people come here from Formula 1 who don’t do a fantastic job.
“The car is the most difficult thing I have driven in my life by far. The tracks are very difficult as well, and now this year we have an extra challenge because the cars have more power, the tyres have less grip and every detail counts. Everything is different and the level of the championship continues to be extremely high. In terms of technology, everything is more positive with this car.
“If you allow the powertrain to go full power – this car will accelerate faster than a Formula 1 car. There is a lot of potential in Formula E, we have come a long way since Season 1.”
Envision team principal Sylvain Filippi also backed up Di Grassi’s point surrounding the design progress in the championship.
“The technology is now so advanced that we are now doing things with this car that just don’t exist on the road. And that’s the whole point of Formula E, you’re really pushing the boundaries to develop and to improve the car. The main reason why we’re in Formula E is to develop this technology and provide exciting racing,” he said.
“I’m excited about how fast these cars can be. The racing has always been good, very competitive and very exciting for the fans, I don’t see why it would be different in January. So yeah, all the ingredients are there. We’ve been working really hard, to prepare a new generation brings a lot of work, but we’re really excited.”
Separately, Formula E have announced a new tyre sponsor for five race rounds. Hankook Tire will showcase EV race tyres at the E-Prix races in Mexico City, Rome and London in Season 9 - the latter two being double-header rounds.
In keeping with FE’s overarching mandate, the high-performance EV race tyres on the Gen3 race car will be produced with materials made from 26 per cent sustainable rubber, that will be fully recycled at their end of life.
Jamie Reigle, CEO, Formula E, highlighted the “high-performance and sustainability” of the tyres which are “custom developed [for] EV races”, meaning “fans can expect even closer and more dramatic wheel-to-wheel racing on all of our city centre circuits.”
::The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returns on Saturday 14 January for the Mexico City E-Prix with races across the season live on Channel 4 and Eurosport
