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The FIA Formula E Championship is the world’s first all-electric single-seater racing series. But what do those words actually mean, how does the technology work, and who are the key players behind the scenes?
Read on to find out more…
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New York
For decades a variety of different motorsport series have attempted to stage a race within the five boroughs of New York. Finally, on July 15/16, that dream becomes a reality with the Qualcomm New York ePrix.
NextEV
NextEV is a Chinese car manufacturer that was created to produce a range of electric cars. It entered Formula E initially as a sponsor of the China Racing team, before purchasing it outright.
It unveiled its first car, the record-breaking NIO EP9 earlier this year and mass market vehicles are due to be announced soon.
Nicholls, Jack
Jack Nicholls is the voice of Formula E, calling the races for the world feed. He started off by commentating on online sim racing and has gone on to work on everything from F1 to non-league football to the Summer Olympics.
NIO
NIO is NextEV’s road car brand. It was launched in November last year with the spectacular EP9. The all-electric hypercar has been breaking records all over the world, including the outright best time for a production car around the awesome Nurburgring Nordschleife.
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Onboards
Onboard cameras have been a staple of motorsport broadcasting since the 1980s and offer a drivers’ eye view of the action. Formula E offers a series of live onboard channels during the races that can be accessed exclusively via the app.
Click here to download on iOS
Click here to download on Android
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Paddock
The paddock is the area of the track where the teams set up, Race Control is based and the other official offices are based. The word comes from equestrian world, where paddock describes the area where horses are kept. Unlike Formula 1, where the teams have lavish motor homes and hospitality areas, the Formula E paddock is smaller and more relaxed, with the drivers often found huddled together laughing and joking.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing
For Season 3 one of the biggest names in motorsport returned to racing with Formula E. Through its pioneering success in Sportscars and Touring Cars, Jaguar Racing is one of the most revered marques in the sport and with its first all-electric road car imminent, Formula E was judged to be the perfect place for its race return.
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic came on board to create the Panasonic Jaguar Racing brand. Its first points arrived in Mexico, while Mitch Evans delivered its first Visa Fastest Lap in Berlin.
Parc Ferme
Parc Ferme means ‘closed park’ in French and refers to the area where the cars go after the race is finished. The park is closed so that no work can be done to the cars before they are examined by the scrutineers. It is only once all cars having successfully passed these post-race checks that the results are made official.
Paris
The City of Light held its first Formula E race in Season 2, with Lucas di Grassi triumphing on the roads around Les Invalides. In Season 3 Sebastien Buemi gave Renault e.dams an emotional home win.
Pic, Charles
The ex-F1 racer lined up on the grid for the first Formula E race and finished a strong fourth for Andretti. His next appearance was in Miami for China Racing. He did four races for the team, and finished eighth in Monaco.
Piquet, Nelson Jr
Nelson Piquet Jr became the first ever Formula E champion following a thrilling race in Battersea that featured a daring pass on Salvador Duran, which gave him the position he needed to claim the title.
He won two races during that first season, but he had to wait for the Season 3 opener in Hong Kong to score his first Julius Baer Pole Position.
Pits
The pits is the area of the track where the teams operate out of during the race. The name comes from the very early days of motorsport, where mechanics and support crew would literally be located in a trench dug next to the road on which the race was taking place.
Inside the pits the teams are limited to a maximum of 17 staff, who between them have to prepare the four cars (two per driver), ensure the batteries are charged as required and make any running repairs as and when they are needed.
The pits are also referred to as boxes. You may hear the drivers being instructed over the radio to ‘box’, which means to come into the pits.
Power
Power describes the flow of energy. In Formula E terms, it describes the rate at which the energy in the battery is being used. In race mode, the power is 170kw, which is around 230bhp. In qualifying, the power limit is raised to 200kw, which is around 270bhp. The performance difference can be as much as two seconds a lap depending on the track length and design.
Press conference
The press conference is a mandatory media activity that takes place before and after each race. In the pre-race press conference the drivers are selected on the basis of their relevance to the local market or because they did something noteworthy at the previous race.
The post-race press conference features the top three drivers from race and takes place after the podium ceremony in the media centre. All Formula E press conferences are streamed live on Facebook and Periscope.
Prost, Nico
The three-time Formula E race winner was the first driver to set a pole position in the all-electric racing series. Prost is the son of four-time world champion Alain Prost, who is also the co-Team Principal of the Renault e.dams team.
Punta del Este
The Uruguayan seaside resort was home to a Formula E race in Season 1 and 2. Sebastien Buemi claimed his first-even Formula E win there in Season 1, a feat he repeated a year later. Punta del Este was also the home to the only in-season tests to have taken place in Formula E thus far, with running taking place on the Sunday on both occasions.
Putrajaya
Putrajaya is just south of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and was the setting for a race in Season 1 and 2. The track was one of the most challenging in Formula E and coupled with the extreme heat and humidity made the race one of the most unpredictable in the series. Sam Bird was the Season 1 victor, while Lucas di Grassi took the Season 2 honours.