FE: 10-year tech roadmap on schedule, Agag says

Formula E is in the midst of its third season of competition, but series founder and CEO Alejandro Agag says plans are moving forward on the all-electric series' technical evolution, which is being advanced according to a decade-long roadmap worked out with the FIA.

"Our last discussion with the FIA showed a 10-year road map with three phases. The first four seasons and then three, and then another three," Agag explained. "There will always be a single-spec chassis, there will always be freedom of the powertrain and the battery will probably be spec during the first 10 seasons – but for the third phase that is still open. We are discussing with the FIA some very interesting possibilities about front and rear powertrains and I think the FIA will make the final 10-year road map public very soon, which is very important to give long-term stability on the technical side to the OEMs.

"There are lots of OEMs coming to the championship, and I think more are going to come and to give them a very clear path for many years is important to them and can help save costs. I think for manufacturers, what really drives up the cost is time. If they are confronted with very short spaces of time to develop a powertrain, the cost goes up exponentially. So the longer lead time we can give them to develop the better, and that is what we are going to try to do with the FIA. Sustainability is a key area for Formula E and it is also about ensuring costs are controlled."

Agag indicated that the challenge of maintaining technical relevancy during this period was more a matter for the teams and manufacturers than the series itself.

"What we do is put together the platform, but it's really the teams and manufacturers who are going to make that possible," he said. "We just help the FIA or give our opinion on rules, but really it's the FIA who issues the technical guidelines. It's the teams who really figure out the systems. Of course they all have different ways to transfer the race technology to the car technology and how they will do that will vary between 'classic' manufacturers and the new start-up EV companies. It's probable that the transfer of technology will be different from one to the other. It's probably much quicker for the start-up companies like Faraday Future to transfer their road car technology to Formula E."

The technical roadmap calls for an all-new car and battery for season five, details for which have yet to be announced, but Agag is confident that development is on schedule.

"We are in advanced discussions with the FIA who will make the final decisions on how the car and the chassis will look. I think that's imminent, and we hope to have a chassis design to present very soon. On the battery technology... again, it's the FIA that is following up that tender. The battery is being tested, the cells are being tested, and I think we will see the first car run maybe 10 months from now to start preparing for season five before delivering the cars to the teams. Hopefully the design will be able to be shown very soon.

In the meantime, Agag hopes to refine the Formula E calendar to reduce the long layoff over the winter that the current season is experiencing.

"It will be much better in terms of the break, which is too long," he conceded. "We are looking at perhaps starting later next year, and we definitely want to add events during the winter period. So races in January, races in February, races in March. These months, which is also when other championships are not on, is where we really need to fill the calendar. It's looking better for next season; we have different options for cities that we are working on now and we hope to have something to present to the [FIA] World Motor Sport Council in March."