Formula E Electric Car First Public Appearance At Frankfurt Auto Show

Updated: Tuesday, August 6, 2013, 11:05 [IST]

Apart from the multitude of conventional vehicles that visitors to the Frankfurt Auto Show in September will get to see, on display will be the first Formula E race car chassis. Formula E is an electric car racing series which is scheduled to debut in September 2014.

The FIA Formula E Championship will run along similar lines as Formula 1 racing, replacing the petrol cars with electric ones. The race will also include some well known teams from Formula 1 championship.

The Chassis on display at Frankfurt has been jointly developed by Renault and Spark Racing technologies. In the inaugural season all teams will be seen racing the same Renault developed chassis, known as Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E.

Apart from the chassis development Renault will also be involved in developing electronic control technology for the teams.

Another big name from the world of Formula 1 that will play a major part of Formula E is McLaren, which will be seen providing 300 HP electric motors to all the teams.

The single seaters are not the only similarity Formula E cars share with their F1 counterparts. They are also expected to incorporate several technologies from F1. Thought not confirmed, DRS and KERS are sure to be part of electric racing as well.

A total of ten teams are said to take part in the inaugural race, but as many as 18 teams are said to have shown interest. Each of the ten teams will have 2 drivers, like in F1.

However, only three teams have been confirmed as of now which also includes a major IndyCar racing team, Andretti Autosport.

The season will start in September and run till June 2015. Races will take place across the globe, in Bangkok, Beijing, Buenos Aires, London, Rome, Los Angeles, Miami, Putrajaya, Rio de Janeiro and Berlin.

Here are a few interesting facts about Formula E Championship

Formula E racers are capable of reaching speeds of up to 217 km/h

Each car can last only 25 minutes. But each race is supposed to last nearly an hour. Hence, each driver will be allotted two cars per race.

Qualifying and race day will be on held on the same day, unlike F1 where a single race is a three day event, divided into practice session, qualifying and race day.