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la E
Sparking a revolution

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6.5 mins

For years we have been told that an electric car revolution is on its way. Next year, we could be one step closer to this becoming a reality with the launch of Formula E. This electric motor racing series is set to change the face of motor sports as we know it very quietly. By Christian Sylt
n a small office in west London plans are taking shape to shake up the world of motor racing. It is far from racings traditional homes of Silverstone and Brands Hatch and the plans are anything but conventional. At the moment many of the details are still undercover but in September 2014 all will become clear when Formula E, the worlds first single-seater, electric-powered racing series, stages its inaugural race. Formula E aims to address many of the biggest criticisms levelled at motor sport. There will be no carbon emissions from its cars though CO2 will be generated by the creation of the electricity that charges their batteries and no noise complaints, as the piercing screech of a racing engine will be replaced with the quiet hum of an electric motor. The organisers are not even asking venues to pay a hosting fee to stage its events as is common with most high-level motor races. It is a bold gamble and a lot is riding on it. Not only could Formula E change the face of motor racing, but it could also be just what is needed to drive sales of electric cars. Formula Es chief executive Alejandro Agag owns a successful team in F1s junior series GP2 so he is hardly a poster boy for the green movement (see box overleaf). He does share at least one of their goals, however: The idea of this championship is to make electric cars popular so people will use them and reduce pollution, he says. Through his work in motor sport Agag came across French company Formulec which makes the only single-seater fully electric racing car. It gave him the idea of launching an electric racing championship and, in August 2012, motor sports governing body the Federation Internationale de lAutomobile (FIA) rubber stamped his plan. Agag got around 59m of investment from Spanish real estate developer Enrique Banuelos and bought Formulec while ensuring that the expertise came with it. The two businessmen jointly own Formula Es Hong Kong-based

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company and Agag says that Enrique immediately understood the idea. He adds, we bought out Formulec which made the first prototype single seater full electric racing car. We needed this because if we didnt have a car we would not be credible. Formulec was owned by the French guys who developed it and they have now joined our team one is my chief operating officer. The fruit of Formulecs effort is a car that doesnt look much different to those in F1 and has a top speed of around 150mph, which is 70 per cent of its bigger brothers (see box, far right). But thats where the similarities stop. Powered by an electric motor, Formula E cars produce zero emissions. This means that there are no environmental concerns about them racing in city centres where the cars will seem more relevant to prospective buyers of electric vehicles. All the Formula E races will take place on street tracks and Agags business model is built around this as racing on roads promotes a city better than a faceless track on the outskirts. Agag has also come up with an ingenious way of sidestepping Formula Ones biggest criticism that the race fees and ticket prices are too high. Last year the average F1 ticket cost 290 and there is good reason for the high price. It is driven by the fact that race organisers rely on income from ticket sales to cover F1s annual hosting fee of around 16m since all other revenues from the event go to the sports management company, which is run by British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. Agag acknowledges that it would be hard for an unproven series to ask cities to pay anything close to F1s sky-high fees so he has taken Formula E in the other direction. Whereas F1 races are organised by independent promoters who pay the annual fee, Formula E will arrange the races itself and will not charge a penny. Agag does not ask cities to pay a hosting fee but requires them to provide prime positions for the race as well as assistance with the preparations and introductions to local sponsors. What we want from the cities is their best premium space. But we dont ask for money. We also ask for an introduction to local sponsors and help with police, infrastructure, health and safety, cleaning and sometimes with building the track. So there is definitely a contribution from the city but there is not a fee as such. It is a tantalising offer that has attracted ten cities to the calendar for Formula Es inaugural season. In September, the FIA

Formula Es answer to Bernie Ecclestone

ALeJaNDRO AGaG
Formula Es founder and chief executive Alejandro Agag does not resemble your typical green crusader. The smartly suited 43-year-old graduated in economics and business studies from the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) in Madrid and is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian. He first made his name in politics and in 1999, aged just 28, he was elected as a member of the European Parliament. He was made a member of the economic and monetary affairs commission where he focused on antitrust policy. Although Agag stepped down just two years later, his life in politics did bring him into contact with his wife and, in 2002, he became something of a celebrity in Spain when he married the daughter of the countrys former prime minister, Jos Mara Aznar, in a ceremony attended by personalities such as Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch. Agag owns the championship-winning Addax team in F1s junior series GP2 and is also a former board member of Premiership football club Queens Park Rangers. He can often be found lunching at Mayfair celebrity hangout C London, which is owned by his close friend the flamboyant Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, who used to sit alongside him on the board of QPR.

announced that the first Formula E race will take place on 20 September 2014 in Beijing. It will be followed by others in a string of exotic destinations, including Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami and even F1s heartland of Monaco. The first season will come to a close on 27 June, 2015, in London and it has the endorsement of mayor Boris Johnson. Zero-emission world-class motor racing is a scintillating concept and I am hugely keen that London be involved in the birth of Formula E, he said in March 2013, when it was first revealed that the city was in the running for a slot on the calendar. It has the potential to highlight the impressive strides being made in the manufacture of electric vehicles, and hosting a street race could also be of considerable benefit to our city. Agag says that the precise location of the race in London has not yet been decided but he is looking at Wembley, as well as Westminster and the Olympic Park in Stratford. In 2012, the latter two locations were mooted as possible venues for an F1 race but failed to get the green light due to funding issues, environmental concerns and expected objections over noise. Formula E swerves around these hurdles.

Noises off
Anyone who has heard the hum of an electric motor knows what to expect from Formula E. The noise is like a big remotecontrolled car, says Agag. An F1 fanatic will go, Oh my God, what is this? but 20 of those cars will make a nice noise. It is futuristic. It is probably the same noise you hear in F1 with earplugs. When the drivers speak to their teams on the in-car radio we will put them on speakers so you can actually hear them during the race. This would be impossible at an F1 race, as the roar of the engines often makes it hard for spectators to hear the person standing next to them, let alone voices from loudspeakers scattered around the track. The Formula E cars arent just quieter than those in F1, they cant travel as far without refuelling, or, in this case, recharging. Each driver has two cars, says Agag. When they take a pit stop they will park in the area in front of the pit lane building and run 160 metres to the second car. All the drivers will have the same distance between their first car and the second one. The TV people love this running because you can actually have overtaking on foot. In August, Formula E announced that it had signed a broadcast, online and

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mobile deal with the Fox network giving it exclusivity in the US as well as rights in more than 80 other territories, including Australia, Canada and Italy. It will be far from a passive experience. Each car will have access to three power boosts per race as well as a fourth, which will be awarded to the driver who gets the highest number of telephone votes from fans by the halfway point. We call it Fanboost, says Agag. He adds that the Formula E video game will offer an experience that has not been found in games based on other racing series, as players will be able to compete in the race online when it is taking place. It has never really been done and we are talking to software companies in California about it because it is very challenging, says Agag. The Olympics dont let you race against Usain Bolt and couldnt do it. While this is indeed innovative, the level of interest will depend on how popular the series itself becomes, and this will be fuelled by the teams and drivers. Each team will have two drivers and there will be slots for ten teams. So far four have been announced. Lord Drayson, the pharmaceuticals entrepreneur and former Minister of State for Science and Innovation, will enter a team from a base in Oxfordshire. The second entrant is China Racing, run by motorsport boss Yu Liu who has said that his team intends to construct its own chassis in China within three years. The two other outfits will be sister teams to those in F1s US rival IndyCar with one

run by former F1 driver Michael Andretti. Agag says that there is no shortage of interest in Formula E as 18 prospective teams have approached him. They are attracted by a 2m annual cap on team budgets. In contrast, F1 has no cap, with annual budgets reaching an average of around 124m.

BIG NAMES
Although no drivers have been announced yet, big names are expected from the outset. I think these drivers will be ex-Formula One drivers, says Agag. This is not perceived as a step back. It is a step aside to something different, which is OK to end your career on. It is not a junior series, it is a different series, so this is how we position it. Formula Es development driver is former Virgin Racing F1 driver Lucas di Grassi, which is an indication of the standard it is expecting. They have a good incentive as the prize fund will be over 300,000 per race giving a total of 3m per year. The drivers arent the only names from F1 that are joining Formula E. McLaren, the championship-winning F1 team, is making the 300bhp electric motor that will power the cars. Its sponsor TAG Heuer will handle the timing and former F1 supplier Michelin will provide the tyres. Another F1 team, Williams, is supplying the batteries and Renault is the technical partner of the series. It is a strong line-up,
FEATURE

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Christian Sylt covers the motorsport industry for the Telegraph, Independent and Wall Street Journal

FORMULa E Vs FORMULa ONe

FORMULA E

FORMULA ONE

Top speed Engine Horsepower

150mph Electric motor 250 to 300

214mph 2.4-litre V8 720

Fuel type Lithium-ion battery Custom-blended petrol Fuel consumption Number of gears Not applicable Two 4mpg Seven Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Cosworth 642kg

Engine manufacturers McLaren Weight of car 780kg

The ve-year goal is to make Formula E sustainable and nancially protable

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but Agag acknowledges that Formula E is risky, it is a lot of work and it is a big bet but we like it. It is interesting. The electric car revolution will happen eventually but what we dont know is if we are too early or not. Recent research by KPMG suggests that Agags concerns may be well founded. A survey of 200 senior executives from the worlds leading automotive companies found that the cost of batteries and recharging was a major barrier to consumers considering purchasing electric cars. There is an increasing realisation that the petrol engine has further scope for optimisation, said John Leech, KPMGs UK head of automotive. This a quite a turnaround in direction and a sign that some of the newer technologies are taking longer than expected to emerge. Agag is not concerned. We can sustain Formula E for a long while, he says. The five-year goal is to make it sustainable and financially profitable. We are in this for the long term. In five years time we want manufacturers coming to the game. We want this to become the technical playing ground for batteries and engines. A year from now the games will begin and only then will we find out whether Formula E really is electrifying. n