Formula E’s new all-wheel drive formula car races this Saturday for the first time
Formula E’s 11th season starts on Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and includes the debut of the new Gen3 EVO car – which iterates on the original Gen3 car by activating the front motor, giving more grip and even faster acceleration than a Formula One car.
Formula E is the FIA’s top-level electric racing series, racing single-seater open-wheel formula cars on famous racetracks and in downtown city centers – where quieter, zero-emission cars can get away with things that noisy gassers cannot.
It’s now on its eleventh season, and there’s been plenty of excitement and unpredictability throughout. The series has remained competitive, with championship battles often coming down to the last race with multiple drivers and teams vying for the win – unlike F1, where championship battles are often decided midway through the season.
And Formula E has been iterating on its vehicles pretty rapidly, with changes every couple years adding new capabilities and making the cars faster.
Early Formula E seasons started with a much less powerful vehicle, and drivers would even swap vehicles mid-race (battery swapping was deemed too complicated, so they just swapped cars instead).
In 2018, Formula E introduced the Gen 2 car which was more powerful and no longer needed to swap mid-race. Then in 2022, the Gen 3 car started racing, with the addition of a front motor to be used for stronger regenerative braking.
On the original iteration of the Gen 3 car, the front motor wasn’t active during acceleration – but that’s changing now, as the modified Gen 3 EVO car will be able to use the front motor during qualifying, race starts, and during “attack mode,” a short boost in power that drivers can activate during the race to gain an advantage. So, technically, this means these cars are going to be all-wheel drive, at least some of the time.
All-wheel drive has been popular on road cars recently, because it enhances acceleration and drivability. And on EVs, it’s quite easy to add, because you can just slap a second motor on the other axle and run a few cables to it, rather than needing to run driveshafts and gearing mechanisms all through your car to transfer the power from a single combustion engine to two separate axles.
However, sportscar and racing enthusiasts have often preferred rear-wheel drive because it makes cars more squirrelly and difficult to control, showcasing driver skill more readily.
So this is a pretty big change – single seat open-wheel racing has historically been all rear-wheel drive with few driver aids involved. There have been a few all-wheel drive cars tried in the past, but currently other open-wheel single seaters (like F1, IndyCar and the like) are rear-wheel drive only.
Another big change for this year is in the tires, which will be grippier than last season. The Gen 3 car originally didn’t improve laptimes as much as expected, likely due to a change in tire supplier, and this year’s tires promise to be more capable of handling the car’s higher power output.
Further, we might finally see the debut of the “attack charge” mid-race charging feature. Along with the introduction of a front motor, Gen3 brought 600kW charging capability. This was mostly used for better regenerative braking, but Formula E also said it wanted to introduce a mid-race 600kW charge.
But introduction of that feature got pushed back multiple times, so now, even if Formula E says it’s ready to introduce it – we’ll believe it when it happens. It was tested at pre-season testing in Spain last month, so that’s one step done at least.
If it does get introduced this year, it will likely be at a double-header race, with one race using the mid-race charge system, and the other not.
The new season comes along with changes in drivers and teams, as they often do. Lola cars has taken over the ABT team, running a racing team for the first time since 1997 now alongside Yamaha, and last season’s ERT team has rebranded as Cupra Kiro. Maserati committed to return – and has committed to the entirety of the future Gen4 era, through 2030.
Drivers have shifted around from team to team, with two new rookie drivers joining the grid – Zane Maloney who joins the Lola team after previously racing in Formula 2, and Taylor Barnard who drove 3 races last year for McLaren but now starts the season as a full-time driver.
Tracks have changed as well, with the retirement of the Misano ePrix, meaning no more races in Italy. Saudi Arabia, which previously hosted several season openers at the Riyadh street circuit, will move its races to a new street circuit in Jeddah. The Portland ePrix (which was great the last couple years) is going away, being replaced by the Miami ePrix – which was previously held in 2015, though now will happen at the Homestead-Miami speedway NASCAR track, instead of the previous Miami street circuit along Biscayne Bay. The headline Monaco ePrix, at the world-famous Circuit de Monaco, will become a doubleheader for the first time, with two races on the same weekend. And the Jakarta ePrix is back, after being skipped in 2024.
This weekend’s race is at the Sao Paulo street circuit, which has hosted Formula E twice before. Since Formula E seasons start just before the end of the year and the Sao Paulo ePrix was scheduled from mid-season to the season opener, we’re now getting a second 2024 Sao Paulo ePrix – the last of which was won by Sam Bird. The 2023 race was won by Mitch Evans.
The circuit goes along the city’s Carnival route, with a long back straight interrupted by one chicane, and a return to the start/finish line through some side streets with tight turns. The long straights should offer good opportunities for overtaking, but also add to difficulty in energy management for the teams.
The race starts this Saturday, December 7, at 2pm local Sao Paulo time. That’s Noon Eastern time, 9am Pacific time, and 5pm UTC. You can check out how to watch the race in your area by going to Formula E’s “Ways to Watch” section. In the US, Roku should be the most reliable way to watch.
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Mitsubishi is partnering with Ample and Yamoto Transports to deploy an innovative new battery swap network for electric cars in its Japanese home market — but it’s not just for electric cars. Mitsubishi Fuso commercial trucks are getting in on the action, too!
Despite a number of early EV adopters with an overdeveloped concept of ownership, battery swap technology has proven to be both extremely effective and extremely positive to the overall EV ownership experience. And when you see how simple it is to add hundreds of miles of driving in just 100 seconds — quicker, in many cases, than pumping a tank of liquid fuel into an ICE-powered car — you might come around, yourself.
That seems to be what Mitsubishi thinks, anyway, and they’re hoping they’ll be your go-to choice when it’s time to electrify your regional and last-mile commercial delivery fleet(s) by launching a multi-year pilot program to deploy more than 150 battery-swappable commercial electric vehicles and 14 modular battery swapping stations across Tokyo, where the company plans to showcase its “five minute charging” tech in full view of hundreds of commercial fleets and, crucially, the executives of the companies that own and manage them.
A truck like the Mitsubishi eCanter typically requires a full night of AC charging to top off its batteries, and at least an hour or two on DC charging in Japan, according to Fuso. This joint pilot by Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks, and Ample aims to circumvent this issue of forced downtime with its swappable batteries, supporting vehicle uptime by delivering a full charge within minutes. The move is meant to encourage the transport industry’s EV shift while creating a depository of stored energy that can be deployed to the grid in the event of a natural disaster — something Mitsubishi in Japan has been working on for years.
Trucks like the eCanter already serve a number of roles throughout the global truck market, including municipal waste collection, regional delivery support, and more.
The pilot is backed by Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Technology Development Support Project for Promoting New Energy,” with local delivery operator Yamato Transport testing swappable EVs for delivery operations on both its eCanter light-duty trucks and Mitsubishi Minicab kei-class electric vans.
Electrek’s Take
Electrifying the commercial truck fleet is a key part of decarbonizing city truck fleets – not just here in the US, but around the world. I called the eCanter, “a great product for moving stuff around densely packed city streets,” and eliminating the corporate fear of EV charging in the wild just makes it an even better product for that purpose.
Here’s hoping we see more “right size” electric solutions like this one (and more battery swapping tech) in small towns and tight urban environments stateside somewhat sooner than later.
SOURCES | IMAGES: Mitsubishi, Fuso.
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After becoming the first European brand to offer fully electric versions of every model it sells — and at the same price as the ICE models — Opel is going even further, with a new, AWD electric SUV that should give American Jeep fans hope for a new electric Cherokee!
Now part of the Stellantis, rather than GM portfolio of brands, Rüsselsheim-based Opel showed off the first official pictures of its new Opel Grandland Electric AWD — the company’s first all-electric SUV to feature the “Blitz” performance emblem and all-wheel drive.
“Our top-of-the-range Grandland SUV is a milestone for Opel,” says Opel CEO Florian Huettl. “Customers already have a choice of battery-electric drive, plug-in hybrid and hybrid with 48-volt technology. We are now offering even more choice with the Grandland Electric AWD and thus ensuring that our customers can enjoy maximum efficiency and safety in diverse weather and road conditions, combined with plenty of driving fun.”
Stellantis gets it right in Europe
Opel says its new, AWD Grandland is its most aerodynamically efficient model yet, with a drag coefficient (Cd) of just 0.278. That efficiency, paired with similarly efficient electric motors and a 73 kWh li-ion NMC battery give the electric crossover a 501 km (311 mile) WLTP range, while a combined 325 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque should make for suitably spirited acceleration to go along with all that green cred.
Suspension and handling, too, are promised to deliver on what Opel claims is a “typical” Teutonic driving experience in the Grandland AWD:
Both driving pleasure and comfort are further emphasized by dampers with frequency selective damping technology. This unique technology comes as standard on the Grandland Electric AWD and incorporates a second hydraulic circuit in the damper chamber to mechanically adapt the damping force in relation to the frequency. Depending on the situation, road surface conditions and driving style, it enables different damping characteristics for comfortable gliding at high frequencies – i.e. with short impacts such as on cobblestones or a manhole cover – as well as for a sporty, ambitious driving style with more direct contact with the road at low frequencies. The Grandland reacts even more immediately and directly to any command from the driver and, as is typical for Opel, remains stable when braking, cornering and at high speeds on the Autobahn.
OPEL PRESS RELEASE
The Opel Grandland Electric AWD ships with four standard drive modes that include “normal,” eco, sport, and 4WD mode, which simulates locking axles and true 4×4 off-road performance. The ESP and traction control systems adopt specific settings to enhance grip in 4WD mode as well, and maximum power and torque are instantly available.
Electrek’s Take
As you maybe could tell by now, feeding European Stellantis EVs into an AI image generator and asking it to “make them into Jeeps” is one of my new favorite things to do. This new Opel is no different, and the resulting image (above) paired with the models’ stated specs give me hope that the next wave of Jeep EVs will do better than the Wagoneer S at attracting buyers. All they really need, I think, is the right name — and the right price, to be winners.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Opel.
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Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but with dealers discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000, it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.
SKIP THE STORY: get straight to the deals.
Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.
That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.
With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.
That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states, according to our friends at the Car Dealership Guy podcast.
- Jimmy Britt Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Georgia, has a Wagoneer S with an MSRP of $67,590 listed at $43,104 ($24,486 off)
- In Florida, Taverna Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat has a $67,590 Wagoneer S slashed to $43,138 ($24,452 off)
- Chris Nikel Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Fiat in Oklahoma has a Wagoneer S listed for $43,425 ($24,165 off)
“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”
All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!
Jeep Wagoneer S gallery
SOURCES | IMAGES: Car Dealership Guy, CarScoops, and CarsDirect.
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