Inside Formula E's most ambitious car yet: The making of Gen4

Formula E has come a long way since its relatively humble beginnings in 2014. When the series first took to the streets of Shanghai more than a decade ago, the range of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E was so limited that drivers had to head into the pits in the middle of the race and literally jump into a second car. Since then, the championship has taken significant strides with each iteration.

Gen2 eliminated the range anxiety associated with electric cars, allowing drivers to complete a full-distance event without a mid-race swap. Gen3 saw Formula E ramp up the power further, while also introducing a front motor for all-wheel drive activations in specific scenarios (Qualifying duels, starts and Attack Mode) and fast-charging.

With the current version, which remains in service until the end of the 2025-26 season Formula E, offered drivers a genuinely competitive car that befits its FIA World Championship status. Another evolution of Gen3 might have been the logical next step. Instead, the FIA and Formula E have gone considerably further with their next-all electric single-seater - so far, in fact, that it almost seems like the series has skipped a generation.

From the 2026-27 season, Formula E teams will campaign the new Gen4 prototype, capable of churning out 600kW or 815bhp during qualifying and in Attack Mode. Even in race trim, the car will be able deliver as much as 450kW, a 50% jump over the outgoing version.

For the first time, the FIA and Formula E will introduce two aero configurations; one for maximum performance in qualifying and the other for improved wheel-to-wheel action in the race.

Factor in active differential and permanent all-wheel drive for even more road relevancy, the new car finally positions Formula E a genuine rival to top-level combustion-powered single-seaters. Initial simulation data suggests that the Gen4 car will sit in between F1 and F2 from a pace perspective, a gap that would shrink further were Formula E to adopt slick tyres.

In just over a decade Formula E will go from needing two cars per race to one car with 815bhp

Photo by: FIA Formula E

But designing an electric race car at this level is far more complicated than it seems on paper. FIA and Formula E Operations, who jointly oversaw development, had to push existing technology to its limits to bring Gen4 to life.

“We have worked with the technology that is available, what we [thought we] should [do with our next car], and what the possibility is to implement, to make sure we got the best performance,” Vincent Gaillardot, FIA’s Formula E technical manager, told Autosport.

“Thanks to cell technology, we are now able to go consistently at 600kW. We need to do a full qualifying, so three or four timed laps, which is a massive exercise. We implemented the four-wheel drive full-time which shows that having four-wheel drive on electrical technology is much easier to implement than mechanically. On a single-seater, it's the first time we have had such an implementation.

"The [main] challenge is still to have the best efficiency because we are still doing an energy race, but in parallel we let manufacturers develop some other areas which will be valuable to them" Vincent Gaillardot

“We also ended up with two aero configurations. And, in line with manufacturers’ objectives with electric road cars, we have all the freedom on electronic control systems. Full brake-by-wire, full traction control, anti-locking [braking system], active differential, energy management; whatever they want to do, they can do.”

While modern electric road cars can accommodate heavy batteries and other related components, single-seater cars don’t have such luxury. The FIA and the FEO had to ensure every part could be tightly packaged within the narrow confines of a formula racer. As a result, the Gen4 car is larger than its predecessor and features a more sophisticated cooling architecture.

“Having a 350kW powertrain at the front is easy to say, but it's a little bit more difficult to implement on a single-seater,” Gaillardot explained. “So we ended up with a chassis monocoque design concept, which is very innovative, thanks to Spark.

“This is such a challenge we had to manage during the development, to be able to implement all this technology to have the highest car performance. So mainly front motor integration to the chassis, and obviously having a battery for 600kW to do a 40-minute race. It's still a big battery, so it was another challenge to fit all the bodywork design, cooling system and so on in a single-seater. You can see from the design that the car is bigger - at least longer than the Gen3.”

Formula E's Gen4 car has been going through development since 2023 in preparation for the 2026-27 season

Photo by: Porsche

The initial groundwork for Gen4 began in early 2023, when the FIA and Formula E defined core objectives in consultation with manufacturers. By the end of 2024 the key components had been validated and in April 2025 the mule car hit the track for the first time. Since then, the FIA and Formula E have conducted multiple tests with its independent development team, with ex-Super GT star James Rossiter in the driving seat.

Registered manufacturers began receiving their development common package (chassis, battery, front powertrain and tyres) in September to allow them to develop and implement their in-house technology for control systems and the rear powertrain.

The first combined test took place at Monteblanco in mid-November, shortly after the official pre-season test for the 2025-26 season. A second test followed in Almeria at the beginning of 2026, with Porsche, Nissan, Stellantis, Lola and Jaguar all in attendance. Mahindra, which was late at signing up for the Gen4 regulations, is planning to hold its first test in May.

With such strong manufacturer participation, rulemakers ensured the car makers were embedded in the development process from the outset. “When we define the content of a new cycle, we ask manufacturers what is best for them to promote through the FIA Formula E World Championship. So it's trying to stick as much as possible to the mass production objective,” Gaillardot said.

“So this is why at one stage fast charging came on the game during the Gen3 era and four-wheel drive came on the game as well, because it's one topic for the premium OEMs. Control system nowadays with the Gen4 era, again it's another topic.

“We also work with them through the technical working group on performing some simulation work to define the details. After that, obviously we go through the design and validation phase. So they are involved at this stage, and they are involved as soon as we share data with them from the mule car testing to prepare for their own manufacturer tests, to make sure we are doing the proper correlation between the initial requirement and the product performance.”

Mahindra was one of the latest manufacturers to sign up to the Formula E Gen4 rules

Photo by: Mahindra Racing

Formula E started as a spec-series in 2014-15, before manufacturers were allowed to design their own powertrains from season 2. Now, the championship is offering even more freedom to manufacturers by widening the set-up window and opening up more areas of development.

“Manufacturers and teams will have a field of set-up optimisation, calibration optimisation, which is much wider than it used to be. With full freedom on control systems, they have another field of investigation and optimisation. I'm sure it’s one of the nicest challenges for engineers,” Gaillardot added.

Naturally, with manufacturers designing more parts of the package, the challenge they will face in Formula E will be greater than even before.

The 2026-27 season will be a huge reset point for Formula E, and not just technically. The championship has an opportunity to reposition itself within the broader motorsport landscape

“We do know that with the freedom of control system, they will play a lot with torque distribution,” Gaillardot said. “I will not say torque vectoring because it's forbidden, but at least differential management, so car rotation, car stability, vehicle dynamics.

“We definitely give them an opportunity to work not only on the electrical powertrain. The [main] challenge is still to have the best efficiency because we are still doing an energy race, but in parallel we let manufacturers develop some other areas which will be valuable to them. This is discussed between manufacturers to make sure we identify the best technical rules to give them this possibility of challenge.”

Gen4 will also mark the end of the mid-cycle Evo refresh, which effectively required manufacturers to develop a major upgrade every two years. Instead, a token-based system will allow a defined number of performance updates across the first four seasons. By allocating a set number of tokens to each component, the FIA and Formula E will be able to keep a tab on the development race, while simultaneously allowing manufacturers to focus on their weaknesses rather than committing to wholesale redesigns.

Formula E teams will also get a token-based upgrade system for Gen4

Photo by: Beto Issa / LAT Images via Getty Images

When Gen4 arrives, Formula E itself may look markedly different. The calendar is set for change, with some circuits undergoing significant alterations and others potentially falling away. Pack racing in Formula E could evolve, while the sporting format is also set for an overhaul, changing the way the races are structured.

The 2026-27 season will be a huge reset point for Formula E, and not just technically. The championship has an opportunity to reposition itself within the broader motorsport landscape, while continuing its push for new audiences.