Since 2014 there’s been a new era of racing, and it’s pure electric.

Formula E is ‘the world’s first electric street racing series’ set to rival the more typical, well known Formula 1 and disrupt the motorsport world as we know it. As we move into a world that is heading towards electrification, it’s no real surprise that one of the most technologically advanced areas of the automotive space, motorsports, is leading the way when it comes to electric tech.

Essentially Formula E is reinventing the wheel… or at least the engine of the car that’s attached to it. The world is heading towards a more sustainable future, with growing concern about air quality and climate change. Formula E is a direct response to that.

The technologies

We often find that technologies that start out in Formula 1 eventually trickle down into the cars we see every day on our roads, and Formula E is no exception to this. Companies involved in the racing series are pioneers of technological development when it comes to electric cars, and there’s no doubt that some of this technology will be sitting on our own drives in years to come. According to the FIA, Formula E cars ‘pave the way for the cars of tomorrow’.

There is constant development going on around Formula E. Companies are continuously developing their cars to be more powerful and efficient as well as quicker. Most recently, the Gen 2 was developed which is much faster than the first-generation design. The key piece of technology involved in this was the battery and the cell technology within it. It has double the energy storage capacity, greater voltage for faster charging, and an increased maximum power output.

How long will it be before we see these technologies starting to improve these features for road cars too?

Driving towards a sustainable future

Formula E aim to bring sustainability into everything they do, and a huge part of this is raising awareness of, and interest in, the new electric future.

By creating a motorsport event that is entirely electric, the aim is to inspire passion into the fans and to bring electric vehicles to the masses. Formula 1 is hugely popular, with a global TV audience of 490 million people in 2018, and Formula E hopes to emulate that success and expose a huge amount of people to just what the future of cars can look like as well as educating this audience on the myriad of benefits of electric vehicles.

They’ve also got a huge focus on sustainability, with their promotion of electric vehicles, charging their cars with renewable sources (via their partnership with Enel), offsetting any carbon footprint they do have and encouraging people to take public transport to their events… pretty impressive all round.

The FIA have vision for the future that includes enhancing electric vehicle battery capacity, promoting electric vehicles as a solution to the air pollution problem, and helping to make the transfer from ‘race to road’. Watch this space!

If you’re interested in finding out more about how electrification is impacting the motorsports world, download Electrification & the Skills Impact | Part 1: Motorsport!