While Formula One is dealing with all sorts of troubles, like for instance its boss Ecclestone facing bribery charges, all seems to be well with its electric rival, Formula E. More and more teams and big names are joining the series and they already have a 2014/2015 calendar featuring 10 city-centre events spanning four continents in place.
The first ever Formula E season will run from September 2014 to June 2015, with Beijing having the honor of hosting the first ever electric Formula race on 13th September 2014. That is actually one week ahead of the planned schedule, which is a sign of how smoothly things are going for FE.
In the first season 10 teams and 20 drivers make up the Formula E grid at each event. They will stay in Asia after the Beijing race, and then move to South and North America, before coming to Europe for the final three rounds. All Formula E events will feature a free practice session, qualifying session, one-hour race and live music concert taking place in a single day (Saturday) in order to minimise disruption to the city and its surrounding areas.
On paper Formula E should be exciting. The cars are immensely fast thanks to their huge torque output, and the venues are pretty amazing as well. They are not awfully quiet, either. Electric Formula cars make a lot of noise, but it’s not a very nice noise. The first race will reveal if the future is bright for this new type of motorsport.
2014/2015 FIA Formula E Championship – Calendar:
Round 1 – Beijing, China, 13th September 2014
Round 2 – Putrajaya, Malaysia, 18th October 2014
Round 3 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 15th November 2014
Round 4 – Punta del Este, Uruguay, 13th December 2014
Round 5 – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 10th January 2015
Round 6 – Los Angeles, USA, 14th February 2015
Round 7 – Miami, USA , 14th March 2015
Round 8 – Monte Carlo, Monaco, 9th May 2015
Round 9 – Berlin, Germany, 30th May 2015
Round 10 – London, UK, 27th June 2015
* All events remain subject to FIA Track Homologation