Why Formula E’s next boost could come from China

China is the biggest electric car market in the world, accounting for 50 percent of the world’s EVs with the country's BYD recently overtaking Tesla as the world's biggest EV carmaker.

Despite that, the country isn’t represented on the Formula E grid. The country is represented in the series, with three races at two locations – Sanya and Shanghai – set to feature on this year’s calendar, but there are no Chinese brands actually racing.

In recent years, BYD has had a major presence at the Mexico City E-Prix, supplying course cars and having its own dedicated hospitality suite. It has the appearance of intent, and Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds says it’s just a matter of time before one actually joins the grid.

“We talk to all of them – we know all the Chinese manufacturers, and they're all showing an interest in the championship,” Dodds told RACER. “My personal view is that the first one that comes in will open the floodgates for more."

With more EVs sold in China than cars entirely in the U.S. over the last 25 years, and Chinese-made EVs now making their way into other markets, Dodds says the “timing feels more right for them to look at a global racing series,” but notes it wouldn’t be a simple move.

“They don't have a huge history of motorsport,” Dodds said. “A lot of the people we're working with, whether it's Porsche or Jaguar, Nissan or Stellantis, they have long, long, long histories of motorsport. They know how to do it, they know what it takes. They've got muscle memory in the organization of people that worked in motorsport.

“Chinese brands would effectively be starting from scratch and I think that is a big jump. But I'm optimistic that over the next year or two, we'll see a Chinese OEM enter the championship.”

Much like Formula 1, the grid limit for Formula E is 24. The current grid is filled with 20 cars from 10 teams, but with Porsche entering a second team next season and Stellantis expected to add its own factory-run team (and Penske Autosport set to split from the company's DS brand), that would leave little room for an additional Chinese entrant. While a Chinese brand would be desirable, Formula E is unwilling to increase its grid limit to accommodate one.

“One [thing] is, how many cars you want to have on track at any given time to create a good and safe racing spectacle,” Dodds explained. “The second thing is a lot of people invest a lot of money to put teams on this grid, so you don't want to devalue their investment by keeping opening up and letting people add more and more. You want some kind of scarcity value to the investment."

Four of the current 10 teams in Formula E are customer teams, and Dodds suggests that the brand could partner with one of them to get in.

“If a Chinese brand wanted to enter today, they could look to come in and acquire an existing brand now,” he said. “They might buy an existing team and the people and the location and almost get a head start. It could come in and partner with an existing brand to get a real sense of how it feels.”