These Wailing Formula E Racers Make Electric Cars Cool

As the 2013 Formula One season comes to a close in Brazil, we're taking a look at single-seater racing of a very different flavour: Formula E. Former Virgin Racing F1 driver Lucas di Grassi recently completed the maiden test session with the series' new, fully-electric car: The Spark-Renault SRT_01E.

The two day test took place at the La Ferté Gaucher circuit in France. If you're new to Formula E, it's an FIA racing series featuring a field of screaming electric cars. The first season will take place between September 2014 and June 2015 and will consist of 10 races exclusively on street circuits.

There will be 10 teams and 20 drivers on the grid. Seven of the 10 teams have already been announced and include former F1 outfit Super Aguri, IndyCar team Andretti Autosport and DTM team Audi Sport ABT.

The Spark-Renault SRT-01E is the first car to be homologated by the FIA and useds the latest technology to find a balance between cost-effectiveness, sustainability and the demands of racing on street tracks. It's powered by a 200kw battery, equivalent to 280bhp, supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering.

This amount of power will be available for practice and qualifying but not for the race, where a power-saving race mode will limit the cars to 133kw, 180bhp, but with a push-to-pass button temporarily allowing maximum power. The car was limited to just a quarter of the maximum power for the test session, so we're yet to see this electric beast's full potential.

When the power is cranked up to full, it'll go from 0-62mph in just three seconds, on to a limited limited to a top speed of 140mph. Hewland will supply a paddle-shift sequential gearbox with fixed ratios and Michelin will supply the series with bespoke 18" treaded tyres for use in both wet and dry conditions.

Lucas di Grassi said after the test:

It is a great feeling to be driving the Formula E car for the first time. I can assure all the drivers will have a lot of fun with this car – even with just a quarter of the power, it has quite a lot of grip and the electric motor produces huge torque.

We can't wait to see this series kick off.

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