THE FORMULA E (RE)CHARGE
So with season two down in the
history books, there comes the
question. Did Formula E win or lose?
Amidst an ocean of marketing information
surrounding the electric-powered racing series, one starts wondering. No doubt, Formula
E has won where everybody had tipped it to
lose, and lose bad. The sport’s fundamentals.
It featured top-class drivers, exciting battles,
overtakes, on-the-edge action, surprises. It
was a great racing show.
On the other hand, there is still little to report
on what Formula E was supposed to excel.
Technology and innovation have yet to start
their race while so much is being compromised for operational and budget reasons.
How ironic that cars on the market can go for
more than 500 kilometers and the supposedly
advanced racing counterparts still require midrace car change two years after their introduction. Raise your hand who doesn’t think
this keeps giving a bad name to electric cars,
with the bro-friendly message being: “Yo man,
wanna buy an electric car? Better buy two or
you’ll get stuck on the road”.
Beyond this, another factor comes into play:
sales. The real, outstanding victory of Formula E came on a totally different plan than real
life. They created a credible version of a zero
emission racing dream and they were able to
sell it using its strongest pillars. No emissions,
no noise. How cool. But more than that, it was
the aura of environmental virginity that made
the difference for car manufacturers and local
authorities, even if that virginity was long gone,
or never actually existed. Sort of like: “Forget
that huge heavy oil/nuclear/coal plants in the
suburbs, now we got Formula E racing in the
city center, man we’re so eco-friendly”.
In today’s world, it’s the message that
counts, and Formula E struck the right chords.
Also, new fans have come. And even though
most of them aren’t actually interested in motorsports but mostly attracted by the glamorous
novelty, if no one tries to welcome new people in, the prospects for racing will remain as
sad as they currently are.