The upcoming Formula E season, which kicks off on December 7 in São Paulo, will see the introduction of a new car, the Gen 3 Evo. This single-seater, aiming to make a splash with its insane acceleration, continues to steer Formula E towards unique circuits.
The 0 to 100 km/h in 1.86 seconds, which is faster than a Formula 1 car. This is the compelling argument used by Formula E to launch its new single-seater, the Gen 3 Evo, which will make its debut in São Paulo on the weekend of December 7, marking the start of the 11th Championship season. Even though F1 cars are more designed for carving incredible curves at over 200 km/h than for explosive starts, the figure is striking. Only a few cars specifically dedicated to the exercise of a standing start perform better worldwide.
In one of the lounges of the Plaza Athénée where DS Penske had just presented its DS E-Tense FE25 in mid-October, Léo Thomas let out a small laugh when he heard Jean-Éric Vergne describe this brand new single-seater as a car that “catapults its driver at the start”. “That’s the right term, ‘catapult'”, added the head of FE at Stellantis, which supplies engines, gearboxes, and transmissions to DS Penske, and also to Maserati. Vergne, the only double champion of the category (in 2018 and 2019), who has been racing since 2014, and Thomas, an engineer present since season 1 in Formula E, confirmed that this figure of 1.86 seconds was not just a marketing gimmick.
This leap forward is due to one particular factor. Not the surplus of power itself, which increases from 469 to 536 horsepower at maximum. The main difference is that these additional horses will be used on the front wheels, making the Gen 3 Evo the first four-wheel drive in the history of the Championship. This will be intermittent during part of the qualification, the start of the E-Prix, or the Attack Mode periods (which is activated by passing a specific part of the circuit and gives full power and thus 4-wheel drive this year for a limited duration).
It’s almost like having two cars in one,” Vergne noted, “because it radically changes things. You can gain two or three seconds per lap. In terms of performance difference, it’s somewhat akin to the difference in F1 between the car for qualifying and the one at the start of the Grand Prix with a full tank.” The unique aspect is that the switch from one driving mode to another can happen in the blink of an eye during the race. “If our Attack Mode ends in the middle of a turn, we’ll switch from four-wheel to two-wheel drive at that moment,” confirmed the French driver, adding with a smile, “If you see us start to drift, it’s because we thought we had four-wheel drive but only had two at that moment.”
At DS-Penske and Nissan, whose workshop is located in Viry-Châtillon, it is not believed that this wild acceleration will create danger at the start. “We’re going to get to the first turn faster, but it’s become simpler for everyone,” Vergne continues. “There’s so much grip that you can go full throttle. It will even be hard to gain two or three places.” Dorian Boisdron, director of Nissan FE Team, adds, “Sure, if someone is stuck on the grid, the speeds in case of impact will be higher, but in Formula E, it’s very rare to stall. For the rest, the cars will be somewhat easier to drive. If we hit the rear less (thanks to 4-wheel drive), the single-seaters will become less oversteering, less tricky on acceleration. In the end, there’s more performance but not linked to more danger.”
However, since the switch to Gen 3 (in 2023), much more imposing and powerful than Gen 2, Formula E has had to take a new turn, leaving, for example, the streets of Rome or New York. Present in the French capital for the launch of the latest DS-Penske, Esteban Ocon, co-founder and leader of the Championship, acknowledged, “We don’t race in Paris because we would need more space” (than on the old circuit around the Invalides), a wider road and a longer track. It was less than 2 km, which is too short now. Narrow tracks with just 90° turns are no longer the right solution given the technology we’re putting on the track.”
Nevertheless, Longo disputes the feeling that FE is a victim of its own technological evolution, becoming a Championship like others that is moving towards more traditional road circuits: “This season, we will have 16 cities on the program and 12 circuits in city centers. There are exceptions in Mexico, Shanghai, and Miami, but we will do 70% of the races on urban tracks. The DNA is intact.” He just calls for a now quite particular site search. “We need hybrid places,” Longo illustrates. “We always try to be close to the city center, in a place well connected in terms of public transport but also offering space. It can be a private place like Tempelhof airport in Berlin, the ExCel in London, or São Paulo, which is also somewhat in this configuration.”
This observation will be even more true in two years with the arrival of a Gen 4 announced with permanent four-wheel drive and 800 horsepower for about 1,000 kg. This will once again highlight some striking figures.
