Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater
motorsport
Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...
championship for
electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars. The inaugural championship race was held in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
in September 2014. Since 2020, the series has had FIA world championship status.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season consists of a series of races, each known as an ePrix. These take place in multiple countries and continents around the world, mostly on street circuits created specifically for Formula E on closed public roads in the centre of major cities, with a small number on purpose-built circuits such as Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. A points system is used at each ePrix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers, and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid e-Licence issued by the FIA to compete.
Formula E cars are the fastest regulated electric road-course racing cars in the world. Major changes made for the 2022–23 season in the development of the Gen3 car were delivered as software updates directly to the advanced operating system built into the car. The estimated top speed is 322 km/h (200 mph). The battery is also designed to be able to handle "flash-charging" at rates of up to 600 kW, allowing pitstop recharging into the championship for the first time. The wheelbase has been reduced from 3100 mm to 2970 mm and the weight reduced to 760 kg.
Formula E shareholders include
Selim Fouad and
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...
. As of 2024, Formula E’s founder and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag is the company’s Chairman, and the Chief Executive Officer is
Jeff Dodds.
History
The proposal for a city-based,
single-seater
An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...
electric car
An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...
motor racing championship was conceived by
Jean Todt, the president of the world governing body of motorsport, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...
(FIA), and presented to politicians
Alejandro Agag and
Antonio Tajani
Antonio Tajani (; born 4 August 1953) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs since 22 October 2022. He served as President of the Europe ...
at a dinner at a small Italian restaurant in the French capital
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
on 3 March 2011. Tajani was concentrated on the electrification of the automobile industry, reducing
carbon-dioxide emissions and introducing
hybrid and electric systems. Agag supported Todt's proposal after the latter discussed the FIA opening up a tender to organise the series. Agag told Todt that he would take on the task because of his prior experience in negotiating contracts with television stations, sponsorship and marketing.
Since the
2020–21 season, Formula E is an
FIA World Championship, making it the first single-seater racing series outside of
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
to be given world championship status.
Regulations

The Formula E championship is currently contested by 22 drivers, and 11 teams as of the
2024 season.
The sport features electric-powered race cars similar in style to the hybrid-drive cars of
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
. Racing generally takes place on temporary city-centre
street circuit
A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...
s, that are around long, although the series is slowly moving towards racing on more traditional circuits, such as
Portland International Raceway
Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Van ...
, and the
Misano Circuit
The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica Misano) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Provi ...
.
Practice
All practice sessions in Formula E are 30 minutes long, with the first practice session generally taking place on Friday afternoon, while the second takes place on Saturday morning (both sessions are held on Saturday morning in Monaco). During these sessions, the drivers are free to use the full qualifying power output (currently 350
kW (475
bhp
BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...
)).
An additional practice session takes place on Sunday morning in "doubleheader" weekends, where the series runs two races on the same track on back to back days.
Qualifying
The qualifying session typically takes place later in the day and lasts approximately one hour. Under the current format (introduced in season 8), the drivers are split into two groups based on their position in the championship; those in odd-numbered places go into group A, while those in even-numbered places go into group B. The exception is in the first race of the season, where each team can nominate one driver into each group. Each group gets a 10-minute session to set a fastest lap at 300 kW, of which the top 4 of each group will advance to the "duels" stage, where drivers face off head-to-head at 350 kW over a quarter-final, semi-final and final. The winner of the final then lines up in position 1, the loser of the final in position 2, the losers of the semi-final in positions 3 and 4, and the losers of the quarter-final in positions 5 through 8, in order of time set in their respective sessions. The rest of the drivers from the group stage are placed alternately from position 9, with the polesitter's group in the odd places, and the other group in the even places.
Race format
Formula E, like most other major motorsport series, currently has races that have a certain lap distance set. Also, for every four laps that are spent under full course yellow or the safety car, an additional lap of racing is added to the race length.
A feature called 'Pit Boost' was introduced during Season 11, where the drivers would come into the pits to service a mandatory 30 second pit stop that will charge the batteries, and add 3.85 kWh of energy to them. In the race, the maximum power output of the cars is currently restricted to 300 kW (402 bhp).
Since the all-weather tyres are designed to last for a whole race, pit stops are only needed to change a punctured tyre or perform repairs on the car.
History of race formats
From Season 1–4, Formula E had a lap distance set, with pit-stops to swap cars halfway through as the batteries lacked the capacity to last the whole race. However, from Season 5, the race was set to 45 minutes plus one lap, as the introduction of the Gen2 car that year saw the batteries in the cars lasting to the end of the race, ending the necessary pitstops. With the introduction of the Gen3 Car in Season 9 Formula E reverted to the lap format.
For season 6 and 7,
for each minute spent under safety car or FCY, 1 kW⋅h of energy was removed from the total usable energy, giving drivers and teams more energy management tactics. In Season 8, a newly introduced 'added time' format was used, where every full minute under a safety car or full course yellow within the first 40 minutes, 45 seconds was added to the race time up to a maximum of 10 minutes, before the 'added lap' format that is currently used replaced the 'added time' format in Season 9.
Track formats
Formula E started out in
2014–15 as holding races solely on street circuits, many of them built as temporary circuits (e.g.
Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit). The first race on a dedicated racetrack was held at
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo Rodríguez (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its current name in 1979 after Ricardo ...
in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in the
2016–17 season, albeit in a heavily shortened track setup compared to the one used in
Formula 1
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
's
Mexican Grand Prix.
In the
2020–21 season, the
Puebla ePrix and
Valencia ePrix were held on configurations comparable to their full-length configurations, being 381 m (by skipping the International Road Course' leftmost corners) and 629 m (by skipping turns 9 through 12 of the Grand Prix Circuit) shorter respectively.
The first-ever Formula E race held on a full-length racetrack configuration of a circuit designed for other racing leagues, or in fact a longer one than the main configuration, was the
2023 Portland ePrix at the
Portland International Raceway
Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Van ...
.
In the
2019–20 season, Tempelhof hosted the first race held on
a reverse configuration of a track's main layout in Formula E (previous examples in other racing leagues included
IndyCar
IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...
's ''
Museum Park'' in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in 1995, and
Circuit Zandvoort
Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea coas ...
in the 1958
Tulip Rally).
Point scoring
Points are awarded to the top ten drivers using the standard FIA system (25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1). The driver securing the pole position is also awarded 3 points, while the driver setting the fastest lap (if they finish in the top ten) additionally receives 1 point (2 points during the first two seasons). In addition, for season six and seven (2019–21) the driver achieving the fastest lap during group qualifying was awarded 1 point. The championship consists of both a drivers' and teams' championship. A driver's end of season total is made up of a driver's best results. A team's total is made up by counting both drivers' scores throughout the season.
[
]
Fanboost
For Formula E's first eight seasons (2014–22), fans could vote for their favorite driver via the official website or app to potentially provide teams with an extra power boost which can be activated by pushing an overtake button. Voting started three days before the event and closed after the opening 15 minutes of the race. The five drivers that got the most votes each received an extra power burst that could be used in a 5-second window during the second half of the race.[ Since the 2023 season, Fanboost was discontinued.
]
Attack Mode
With the fifth season, a feature called ''Attack Mode'' was introduced, in which drivers received an additional 25 kW in season 5 (35 kW in season 6 and 7) of power after driving through a designated area of the circuit off the racing line. The duration of the boost mode and the number of boosts available are decided only shortly before each race by the FIA to reduce the time the teams have to find the optimal strategy. All attack modes must be activated at the end of the race, If there is a full course yellow period or a safety car
In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...
, attack mode is not allowed to be activated.
The Attack Mode format was changed up for Season 9, as instead of a constantly changing number of times the drivers had to drive through the activation zone during the race, and also the changing amount of time that each Attack Mode period lasted, the drivers would now get a combined 4 minutes of Attack Mode to use, that would be used in 2 activation periods throughout the race. During the first activation period, drivers would have to choose their Attack Mode activation time 'strategy', where they could either pick from having 2 2-minute attack mode periods, a 1-minute to start and then a 3-minute period, or vice versa. From the 2023 Jakarta ePrix, it was lengthened to a combined 8 minutes that could be deployed in 2 minutes and then 6 minutes or vice versa or 2 4-minute periods.
Pit Boost
In Season 9, a new feature known as ''Attack Charge'' was set to be introduced in a few races later in the season, however, due to the need to solve issues with the Gen3 car's new batteries, the production of the fast chargers were delayed, and as a result, after criticisms from the teams about shifting to a new race format midway through the season, the debut of Attack Charge was pushed back.
After more than two years after the initial announcement of the feature, now known as ''Pit Boost'', made its debut at the 2025 Jeddah ePrix. In Pit Boost races, all drivers are required to do a mandatory 30-second stop to recharge the car's batteries at 600 kW, and give the drivers an extra 3.85 kWh of energy (around 10% additional energy) to use throughout the rest of the race. This pitstop will have to be taken in a certain window in the race, chosen by the race officials prior to the event. No other work on the cars is allowed to be carried out during the quick-charging pitstops, and only one car per team is allowed to take the stop at a time.
Cars
Spark-Renault SRT_01E ("Gen1 Car")
For the first four seasons, an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology
Spark Racing Technology (SRT) is a motorsport manufacturer specialized in the development and engineering of high-performance electric vehicles and modules. The company was founded by Frédéric Vasseur to become the sole chassis supplier for the ...
, called the Spark-Renault SRT 01E, was used. The chassis was designed by Dallara
Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...
, a battery system was created by Williams Advanced Engineering and a Hewland
Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...
five-speed gearbox was used. Michelin
Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...
was the official tyre supplier. For the first season, 42 electric cars were ordered by the series. 4 cars were made available to each of the 10 teams and 2 cars were kept for testing purposes.
This first Formula E car had a power of at least . The car was able to accelerate from in 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of . The generators used to re-charge the batteries are powered by glycerine
Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in ...
, a by-product of bio-diesel production.
In the first season, all teams used an electric motor developed by McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
(the same as that used in its P1 supercar). But since the second season, powertrain manufacturers could build their own electric motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system although the chassis and battery stayed the same. There were nine manufacturers creating powertrains for the 2016–17 season: ABT Schaeffler, Andretti Technologies, DS-Virgin, Jaguar, Mahindra, NextEV TCR, Penske, Renault, and Venturi.
Spark SRT05e ("Gen2 car")
The second-generation ("Gen2") Formula E car was introduced in the 2018–19 season and featured significant technological advances over the previous Spark-Renault SRT 01E car – its 54 kWh battery and power output rising from 200 kW to 250 kW and top speed rising to around 280 km/h (174 mph). The arrival of the Gen2 car also saw an end to the series’ mid-race car-swaps. They were equipped with Brembo
Brembo N.V. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive parts that most notably produces braking systems, for high-performance cars and for the sim racing series Gran Turismo. Its operational head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy, while Amst ...
braking systems, chosen by Spark Racing Technology
Spark Racing Technology (SRT) is a motorsport manufacturer specialized in the development and engineering of high-performance electric vehicles and modules. The company was founded by Frédéric Vasseur to become the sole chassis supplier for the ...
as the sole supplier. The cars were also equipped with the halo
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to:
Most common meanings
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
* ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021)
Arts and en ...
, a T-shaped safety cage designed to protect the driver's head in crashes and by deflecting flying objects. Michelin remained as tyre manufacturer, supplying all-weather treaded tyres.
Gen3 car (from 2023)
The Gen3 Formula E car was unveiled to the public at the 2022 Monaco ePrix, for use in the ninth Formula E season (2022–23) onwards. Power levels for the car are 350 kW in qualifying and 300 kW in the race, while regeneration is allowed on both front (250 kW) and rear (350 kW) axles for a maximum of 600 kW recovery under braking. Regenerative braking could provide 40% of the total energy used within a race.
The estimated top speed is 322 km/h (200 mph). The battery is also designed to be able to handle "ultra-fast charging" at rates of up to 600 kW, allowing pitstop recharging into the championship for the first time. The wheelbase has been reduced from 3100 mm to 2970 mm and the weight reduced to 760 kg.
Spark Racing Technology
Spark Racing Technology (SRT) is a motorsport manufacturer specialized in the development and engineering of high-performance electric vehicles and modules. The company was founded by Frédéric Vasseur to become the sole chassis supplier for the ...
builds the chassis and supplies the front axle MGU, Williams Advanced Engineering supplies the battery, and Hankook
Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (), also known simply as Hankook ( , ), is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh-largest tire company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company.
History
Hankook Tire was establis ...
supplies all-weather tyres incorporating bio-material and sustainable rubber.
Gen4 car (from 2026)
The development of the Gen4 era of Formula E is already underway, with the extensive GenEVO programme, the championship’s development car. The intention is to introduce the new Gen4 car into the championship from Season 13 (2026–27) for the Gen4 era.
Teams and manufacturers are already expressing interest in the Gen4 era, with the idea that many of the current championship teams will sign for all four years. Jaguar Racing is advancing in the field of Gen4 cars with by setting up a specialised Mechatronics unit under the supervision of Muin Ahmad, who recently lead the development of twin battery system of Formula E Cars.
Comparison
Safety Car
During the first seven seasons, a BMW i8 plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...
was employed as the Formula E safety car
In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...
. During the 2020–21 season, a Mini Electric (called the ''Electric Pacesetter by JCW'') was used as safety car for selected races. From 2022, a Porsche Taycan has been used. Bruno Correia is the official safety car driver.
Safety car.jpg, The BMW i8
EFLT PueblaEPrix2021-7.jpg, Mini Electric
2023-04-21 Motorsport, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Berlin E-Prix 2023 1DX 0622 by Stepro.jpg, Porsche Taycan
Seasons
Champions
2014–15
The calendar consisted of 11 races held in 10 different host cities: Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, Putrajaya
Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...
, Punta del Este
Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...
, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Long Beach
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
, Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and finally London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where last two rounds of the championship took place.
The first Formula E race at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit on 13 September 2014 was won by Lucas Di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
, after Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost crashed out on the final corner. In the course of the season, there were 7 different race winners: Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
(three times),
Sam Bird (twice), Nelson Piquet Jr. (twice), António Félix da Costa
António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...
, Nicolas Prost, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Lucas Di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
.
The championship was decided with the last race in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where Nelson Piquet Jr. became the first Formula E champion, only a single point ahead of Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
. Piquet, Buemi, and Di Grassi all had a theoretical chance at winning the title in the final round. The team championship was decided on the second to last race, with e.dams Renault (232 points) winning ahead of Dragon Racing (171 points) who surpassed ABT in the final round of the championship.
2015–16
The second season of Formula E started in October 2015 and ended in early July 2016. The calendar consisted of 10 races in 9 different cities. For this season eight manufacturers were introduced, who were allowed to develop new powertrains. Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
won the championship with only 2 points more than Lucas di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
by claiming the fastest lap in the final race in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
2016–17
The 2016–17 FIA Formula E season was the third season of the FIA Formula E championship. It started in October 2016 in Hong Kong and ended in July 2017 in Montreal. Lucas di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
won the championship in the last race of the season, 24 points ahead of Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
and 54 points ahead of third-placed rookie driver Felix Rosenqvist. The Renault e.Dams team successfully defended their team championship title.
2017–18
The 2017–18 FIA Formula E season was the fourth season of the FIA Formula E championship. It started in December 2017 in Hong Kong and ended in July 2018. Jean-Éric Vergne clinched the title with a race to spare in New York by finishing fifth while title rival Sam Bird failed to score enough points to keep the fight going into the final race of the season.
After a difficult first half of the season, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler improved in the second half and passed Techeetah at the final race to claim the teams' championship by two points.
2018–19
The Gen2 race car was introduced for season five with significantly improved power and range, thus eliminating the need to change cars and pit stops altogether except for damage. However, cars are still vulnerable to power exhaustions if red flags and safety cars lengthen races. Gen2 also saw the introduction of the halo
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to:
Most common meanings
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
* ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021)
Arts and en ...
driver protection system. The car was unveiled in January 2018.
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
, Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
and DS Automobiles
DS Automobiles is a French Luxury car, luxury-Premium segment, premium marque created in 2009. Formerly part of Automobiles Citroën, Automobiles Citroën S.A., DS has been a standalone brand ultimately owned by PSA Group, later Stellantis. The in ...
would join Formula E as official manufacturers for the 2018–19 season, with Nissan replacing Renault, which had exited the championship to focus its resources on its Formula 1 team. The format of the races also changed from a set number of laps to 45 minutes plus one lap.
The 2019 Hong Kong ePrix was the 50th race of Formula E since its inception in 2014. Formula E raced in 20 cities, across five continents, seen 13 global manufactures commit to the series. Four drivers have started all 50 Formula E races: Lucas di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
, Sam Bird, Daniel Abt and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.
After the first race in New York City, Jean-Eric Vergne won his second Formula E championship, becoming the first driver to win more than 1 championship title, and a back-to-back championship title. Techeetah won their first constructor's championship.
2019–20
For the sixth season of Formula E, two more manufacturers joined the series: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
and Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
. A number of rule changes were introduced to the championship, most notably the deduction of usable energy under safety car and Full Course Yellow conditions, with drivers having energy subtracted at 1kW⋅h per minute. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
the championship was suspended in March 2020 and all scheduled races were eventually cancelled. The season was completed in August with six races at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
on three different layouts (a race on the reverse layout, a race on the normal layout, and a race with a new extended layout) with two races each.
The season's champion was António Félix da Costa
António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...
who clinched his first title with two races left. DS Techeetah became team champions for the second time in a row.
2020–21
Starting with its seventh season, the Formula E Championship was granted FIA World Championship status, due to it having met the criteria of having four manufacturer competitors and races on three continents since the 2015–16 season. The facelift of the Spark Gen2 car called the Gen2 EVO, was originally scheduled to debut in this season, but was later delayed and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
In late 2020, Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the compa ...
and BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
announced their withdrawal from Formula E after the 2020–21 season, although BMW and Audi allowed Andretti Autosport
Andretti Global is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. Starting in 2026, Andretti will also operate the Cad ...
and Envision Racing respectively to continue using their powertrains during the 2021–22 season.
The season ended in August 2021 with 15 races. Nyck de Vries
Hendrik Johannes Nicasius "Nyck" de Vries (; born 6 February 1995) is a Dutch racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota and in Formula E for Mahindra Racing, Mahindra. In formula racing, ...
claimed his first world champion title after winning two races, while Mercedes-EQ
Mercedes-EQ is a series of battery electric vehicles manufactured by Mercedes-Benz. The first model was previewed at the Paris Motor Show in 2016 with the Generation EQ concept vehicle. Mercedes-Benz intends to produce ten EQ models by 2022, thr ...
won the teams' championship.
2021–22
The 2021–22 FIA Formula E season is the eighth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship and the final season of the "Gen2" car era. The season started in January 2022 in Diriyah
Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...
.
Instead of removing usable energy from drivers under the safety car and FCY, there will be added time to the race. For every full minute the race is neutralized within the first 40 minutes, there is 45 seconds of added time. This can add up to a maximum of 10 minutes.
Race power was also increased to 220 kW and attack mode was increased to 250 kW, matching the power from Fanboost.
Season 8 also introduced a new qualifying format, featuring 2 groups, A and B, where the top 4 in each would progress to duels.
Stoffel Vandoorne won the Drivers title, whilst Mercedes EQ won the teams championship for the second time in a row.
2022–23
The 2022–23 FIA Formula E season was the ninth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship, and the debut season of the Gen3 era. It saw Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
and McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
make their debuts in the series and the return of Abt Sportsline
Abt Sportsline is an auto racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany. Abt mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands—Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT—modifying them by using sports-type su ...
with the Spanish brand Cupra Racing
Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the missi ...
. Laps replaced timed races, and for every safety car or FCY intervention, there were added laps to compensate for missed racing laps.
Pit stops were originally also supposed to make a return to the series (in the form of ''Attack Charge'') which was set to be trialed at select races, however the introduction of this race format was delayed to the 2023–24 season and beyond, after several issues with the new car's batteries came up before the season, which caused delays in the production of the fast chargers.
Originally also, in at least two races, each team would have to field a driver with no previous Formula E experience in the first practice session. However, after teams criticized this rule, the series then decided that instead as a compromise, they would hold two rookie test sessions, one being after the doubleheader Berlin ePrix, and the other being before the doubleheader Rome ePrix.
The drivers' championship was won by Jake Dennis
Jake Dennis (born 16 June 1995) is a British racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Andretti Global, Andretti and serves as a factory driver for BMW in motorsport, BMW. Dennis won the 2022–23 Formula E World Championship with Andretti. ...
( Avalanche Andretti Formula E), and the teams' championship was won by Envision Racing.
2023–24
The 2023–24 FIA Formula E was the tenth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship, with 16 races taking place from January to July 2024 across 10 venues. For the first time, it featured a championship for manufacturers (in addition to the existing drivers' and teams' championships).
The calendar Season 10 was announced in November 2023, featuring new venues Misano, Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and a world-first race held in the streets of Tokyo, Japan, with Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
expanding to a double-header.
Attack Charge was scheduled to be introduced starting at the Misano ePrix. This new feature would have seen drivers take a mandatory pit stop in a specific window during the race, during which the car would have been recharged to award drivers two attack mode boosts and an extra of energy throughout the rest of the race. This feature was originally planned to be introduced in season 9, but after delays in production of the fast charging units it was postponed until season 10. This timeframe was then delayed once again, with the feature postponed to season 11.
The Drivers' Championship was won by Pascal Wehrlein ( Porsche Formula E Team), the Teams' Championship was won by Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing is the name given to Jaguar Land Rover's racing interests. The Jaguar brand currently competes in Formula E under the name Jaguar TCS Racing for sponsorship reasons. It is the defending Formula E World Teams' Champion, having wo ...
, and the Manufacturers' Trophy was won by Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
.
2024–25
The 2024–25 FIA Formula E is the eleventh season of the FIA Formula E World Championship, with 16 races set to take place from December 2024 to July 2025 across 10 venues. The updated Gen3 Evo race car was introduced in the season. The races are held across two calendar years for the first time since the 2019–20 season. Lola and Yamaha joined the series, and cooperated in developing their new powertrain, partnering ABT.
The calendar of Season 11 features new venues in Jeddah and Miami, and the return of the Jakarta ePrix, with Monaco and Tokyo expanding to double-headers.
After multiple postponements, the fast charge feature now known as Pit Boost was introduced in Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
.
2025–26
The 2025–26 FIA Formula E is set to be the twelfth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship, with 18 races set to take place from December 2025 to August 2026 across 12 venues. McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
is set to leave the championship ahead of the season.
The calendar of Season 12 features new venues in Miami and Madrid.
Esport series
In 2019, the Virtually Live Ghost Racing app was launched. It allows fans to virtually drive alongside the real drivers as the race is going on. In 2020, during the season suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Formula E held an esport
Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
series called Race at Home Challenge. In 2021, Formula E introduced a new series called Formula E: Accelerate using the online game rFactor 2. The first season of six races was held between January and March 2021. All Formula E teams participated in the series. The series currently consists of professional sim racers racing virtually on selected race tracks from the season, with the events being called “majors”, before the finale on the London Circuit.
Support Series
FE School Series
During the first season, the ''FE School Series'' for student teams that developed their own electric car took place as support races at selected events. The series was not continued during the second season.
Roborace
Roborace
Roborace was a competition with autonomously driving, electrically powered vehicles. Founded in 2015 by Denis Sverdlov, it aimed to be the first global championship for autonomous cars. From 2017 to 2019, the official CEO was 2016–17 Formula ...
was developing the world's first autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...
and electrically powered racing car. The company planned to develop the first global championship for driverless cars. It held demonstrations at selected races during the 2016–17 Formula E season and 2017–18 Formula E season.
Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy
Formula E and Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
ran a production-based support series with Jaguar I-Pace battery electric SUVs. The series was called the ''I-Pace eTrophy'' and ran together with Formula E's fifth and sixth seasons (December 2018 to summer 2020). In May 2020, Jaguar announced the cancellation of the series, due to financial issues caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
NXT Gen Cup
In 2024 Formula E announced the NXT Gen Cup, an electric junior (ages 15–25) touring car series, as support series to the championship. The NXT Gen Cup was set to feature at all four European rounds of season 10 in Misano, Monaco, Berlin and London, however shortly before the Misano weekend, the series decided to part ways with Formula E due to “unexpected constraints faced by the support series.”
Media
Television
Formula E provides comprehensive live television coverage shown via major broadcasters around the globe (CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
, The Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...
, TNT Sports UK, CCTV-5
CCTV-5 (), also known as the Sports Channel, part of the China Central Television family of networks, is the main sports broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV-5 began broadcasting on 1 January 1995. CCTV-5 now broadcasts 24 hour ...
, Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
, J Sports, Ziggo Sport Totaal
Ziggo Sport Totaal is a Dutch premium television service operated by Ziggo and owned by VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture between Liberty Global and Vodafone. Ziggo Sport Totaal launched as Sport1 with its sister service Film1 on 1 February 2006 ...
, ITV). English language programming is produced by Whisper, while Aurora Media Worldwide produces the main worldwide broadcast.
Presenters
Up until Season 9, the world feed was presented frequently by Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti
George Dario Marino Franchitti (born 19 May 1973) is a British motorsport commentator and retired motor racing driver from Scotland. Franchitti won the IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011; the Indianapolis 500 in ...
, with Nicki Shields
Nicola Shields (born 1 November 1985) is a British television presenter best known as the Formula E pit lane reporter. A biological sciences graduate of the University of Bristol, she got a job for UBS which she left after one year to found the ...
acting as pit lane reporter. However, just before the 2023 Jakarta ePrix, Nicholls was fired after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, and Ben Edwards, who had already done motorsport commentary for 3 decades, replaced him in the commentary booth from Jakarta ePrix until the Portland ePrix. Later that season, Tom Brooks, known as "the Voice of Gran Turismo" became the main commentator of Formula E from the Rome ePrix onwards.
Nicki Shields will anchor Formula E's English Language Programming for Season 11, alongside tenacious racing driver Billy Monger, rally driver Catie Munnings, and an expert lineup which will include David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...
, Karun Chandhok, Andre Lotterer, James Rossiter, and Allan McNish
Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013, as well as a three-time wi ...
for Season 11.
Alexa Rendell, and Saunders-Carmichael Brown will serve as pit lane reporters.
The first round in Brazil also featured Ben Edwards. It is currently unknown if he will be presenting in future sessions and rounds.
Documentaries
Directors Fisher Stevens
Stephen Fisher (born November 27, 1963), known professionally as Fisher Stevens, is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben Jahveri in ''Short Circuit'' (1986) and ''Short Circu ...
and Malcolm Venville created a documentary movie about the 2017–18 season called ''And We Go Green''. It highlights some of the innovations and challenges of Formula E and follows several drivers and rivalries throughout the season. The film was co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
and premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
.
Formula E debuted its own documentary series, called 'Unplugged' on 22 November 2021, which was similar to Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
's Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
'' Drive to Survive'' series. The series gave a behind-the-scenes look on every driver’s journey through the 2020–21 season. ''Unplugged'' returned for a second season in March 2023, showcasing the 2021–22 season, and for a third season in January 2024 showcasing the 2022–23 season.
Gallery
Pista fórmula E 2023.jpg, Track signage highlighting sustainability.
Formula E, E-Village, Battersea Park - geograph.org.uk - 4543848.jpg, E-Village, 2015.
Formula E 2017 -i---i- (32973761934).jpg, At the podium in 2017.
Formula E 2017 -i---i- (33431962840).jpg, Alejandro Agag (far right) helped to create the championship series.
2023-04-22 Motorsport, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Berlin E-Prix 2023 1DX 1001 by Stepro.jpg, Berlin ePrix 2023 pole position trophy.
Formula E, Battersea Park - geograph.org.uk - 4542533.jpg, View of the tail light illumination.
2023-04-23 Motorsport, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Berlin E-Prix 2023 1DX 1484 by Stepro.jpg, Safety car charging, 2023.
Padock Fórmula E 2023.jpg, Paddock area, 2023.
2023-04-22 Motorsport, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Berlin E-Prix 2023 1DX 0859 by Stepro-2.jpg, Close-up of a Gen3 driver.
Mercedes pitbox.jpg, Team Mercedes-EQ pitbox.
See also
* Electric motorsport
* List of Formula E drivers
* List of Formula E ePrix
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Formula E
Formula racing series
One-make series
Recurring sporting events established in 2014
Articles containing video clips
Open wheel racing
FIA world championships
Electric vehicle series