Formula E officially revealed its next electric racing car today. At first glance, the Gen4 machine looks similar to machinery of seasons past, but looks are deceiving—it’s “so much more menacing,” according to Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds. The new car is not only longer and wider, it’s far more powerful. The wings and bodywork now generate meaningful aerodynamic downforce. There will be a new tire supplier as Bridgestone returns to single-seat racing. The car is even completely recyclable.
I’m not sure that everyone who attended a Formula E race in its first season would have bet on the sport’s continued existence more than a decade down the line. When the cars took their green flag for the first time in Beijing in 2014, as many people derided it for being too slow or for the mid-race car swaps as praised it for trying something new in the world of motorsport.
Despite that, the racing was mostly entertaining, and it got better with the introduction of the Gen2 car, which made car swapping a thing of the past. Gen3 added more power, then temporary all-wheel drive with the advent of the Gen3 Evo days. That car will continue to race in season 12, which kicks off in Brazil on December 6 and ends in mid-August in London. When season 13 picks up in late 2026, we might see a pretty different kind of Formula E racing.