The Making Of Formula Gen4, The Future Of EVs

Forbes

4 days ago

Porsche, Jaguar, and Nissan have been fundamental in providing feedback and developing the newest ... More generation of electric race cars.
The eleventh season of Formula E is set to finish with the series' traditional London season finale doubleheader on July 26 and 27. Nissan driver Oliver Rowland has already secured the driver's championship, and his team is neck and neck with Porsche for the manufacturers' trophy.
While the competition on the track has been fierce, Formula E's manufacturers — Porsche, Nissan, Jaguar, Stellantis, Mahindra, and Lola — have been hard at work developing a faster, lighter, more inspirational generation of electric race cars: Gen4.
Eagle-eyed racing fans will have noticed that on June 10th, Formula E released the initial statistics for its Gen4 cars. The most advanced electric racer yet will have permanent 4-wheel drive, 600kW power output, compared to just 350 kW currently and 700kW of regeneration power.
According to outgoing Jaguar Racing Team Principal James Barclay, this represents 'the biggest step change in any generation.' As the cars whizz around tracks from Sao Paulo to Tokyo, they will hug the corners tighter, accelerate faster, and be even more efficient.
Speaking to me via video call days after the Berlin race, Barclay said Gen4 will be 'an incredibly fast racing car,' adding it will 'take another significant step in performance in corner speed and top speed.' The challenge will be for the drivers to control the advanced machinery while securing the checkered flag.
Porsche Team Principal Florian Modlinger and Nissan Team Principal Tommaso Volpe agree with Barclay. Modlinger says the car will be 'massively fast,' adding that 'cornering speed will increase, acceleration potential is higher, and top speeds are massively higher even on city tracks.' Volpe insists the cars will be so potent that in some instances Formula E will need to use different circuits to ensure proper safety and entertainment.
The Gen4 car will launch in 2026 for the start of Formula E's 13th season, but work on the next generation has been underway for a while now. Gen4 was announced at last season's Monaco race in May. This was preceded by roughly 18 months of conversations between manufacturers, Formula E and FIA, motorsport's world governing body. At the season 10 series finale in London, this time last year, FIA and Formula E solidified the guidelines and regulations for Gen4, passing them on to the manufacturers.
As Volpe says, 'the regulations are a product of conversations between the manufacturers, Formula E and FIA,' so the manufacturers know what to expect when they receive them. As one of the core manufacturers, Nissan (and others) recommended the permanent use of all-wheel drive, as opposed to its current use solely during 'attack mode.'
With the regulations in hand, Porsche, Nissan, Jaguar, et al have been developing the powertrains that will power their cars. As Barclay says, 'We are normally working about two years ahead.' This means developing not only new, cutting-edge technology, but convincing decision-makers in huge corporations like Nissan, Porsche, and Jaguar Land Rover that there is a smart business case to be made for spending millions on advanced electric vehicle technology.
The entire process, from the moment a commitment to develop a new generation of cars is made until the moment the car is racing, is roughly three years, two of which are used for research, design, testing, and further technical development.
This research, design, and testing period is critical because once the car is approved under Gen4 rules and regulations, its hardware cannot be changed for two years. 'Every homologation lasts two years,' Barclay says. Software changes and time in the simulator are the only ways the drivers and the teams' engineers can improve the car once in season.
While the FIA and Formula E determine the specifications for the common chassis and battery, the manufacturers can find a competitive advantage through their unique powertrain designs.
Nissan is one of five manufacturers committed to Formula E's Gen4.
Modlinger says that when his Porsche engineering team receives the specifications for a new Gen from the governing bodies, the first thing they look at is what they are allowed to develop. The team is looking to maximize grip, downforce, and torque, while minimizing weight and complying with Formula E's cost cap.
The championship's cost cap for each manufacturer is €29 million over two years, or roughly €15 million per season. Other parameters for the new hardware include a maximum weight of 100 kgs.
According to Volpe, there are two main difficulties when developing a new generation of Formula E car technology. First, he says, 'When you start the development of a car within the regulations, any decision is a compromise.' To maximize speed, you may give up some form of efficiency. Second, cars are developed without knowledge of future race formats. Certain circuits require more energy, others require more raw power. A manufacturer may design what they believe to be a perfect car, only for it to underperform depending on the type of race.
The manufacturers and Formula E all have a stated commitment to improving electric racing technology and transferring it to regular EVs down the line. The vast improvement in speed, energy regeneration, and most notably charging from the current Gen3 Evo to Gen4 is expected to deliver transformational performance on both track and road.
Volpe says the constant improvement of the efficiency of the cars is 'what is helping the future development of EVs,' adding 'efficiency leads to greater adoption.' This is born out by the fact that as battery life has become more reliable and driving range has increased, consumer purchases of EVs around the world have gone up.
Meanwhile, Barclay notes that to drive the use of EVs and thereby increase transportation sustainability on a global scale, 'firstly, you have to inspire.' Sports are one of the few industries that can draw out people's passions and convince them to invest in a certain idea or product. Barclay recalls growing up in South Africa in 1995 and seeing the Springboks win the Rugby World Cup, transforming the nation under Nelson Mandela.
Formula E's Gen4 cars are unlikely to drive the sort of overnight change that saw the Springboks unite the Rainbow Nation, but through impressive performances on the track, they may convince the next generation of drivers to go electric as opposed to buying a traditional internal combustion engine.
By September of this year, each manufacturer will have the first draft of their Gen4 car. They will test them from September into 2026 and finalize them before the 2026 racing season. In just over a decade, Formula E cars have shifted from vehicles that needed to be swapped mid-race to the most efficient racing vehicles in the world.
In just over a year, we will see the dawn of a new age in electric racing, with some predicting such high performance that people will never go back to traditional gas-powered engines.