Nissan set for Formula E

Nissan will race in 12 cities on four continents during season five of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

The venues for the 2018-19 season of the all-electric racing series have been revealed along with an innovative new format.

The season will include 13 races in a dozen cities, starting in Saudi Arabia on December 15 and finishing in New York in July.

Other venues include Marrakesh (January 12), Mexico City (February 16), Hong Kong (March 10), Rome (April 13), Paris (April 27), Monaco (May 11), Berlin (May 25), and Zurich (June 9).

A yet-to-be-announced city in China will host a race on March 23.

Nissan is using the electric racing championship to showcase its Nissan Intelligent Mobility strategy.

Electrification is a key pillar of the strategy, which seeks to change how cars are driven, powered and integrated into society. The company aims to sell a million electrified vehicles a year by fiscal year 2022, including pure electric vehicles and e-Power models.

Nissan announced its entry into Formula E at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show and unveiled its Formula E livery at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

“This incredible race schedule highlights markets where electric vehicles are ideally suited for urban driving,” Nissan’s global motorsports director Michael Carcamo says.

“That’s the great thing about Formula E – we get to race on the same roads where the Nissan Leaf could be driven by fans every day.

“Formula E takes the action to the people – racing in the middle of cities, rather than at race tracks miles away in the countryside.”

In addition to the new Generation 2 Formula E cars, the upcoming season sees the entire race completed without the traditional mid-race car swap of previous seasons.

Drivers will have 200kW of power available for the race as a whole but will be able to access 225kW for periods of the race by passing through a single activation zone. This will be marked on the circuit for fans watching on-site, online or on TV.

The two power modes will be indicated using different colours on an innovative LED system on the drivers’ halo head protection devices.

In addition, the ground-breaking Fanboost system will enable fans to vote for their favourite driver, with the top three getting to use a maximum of 250kW of power for short periods.

For season five, all Formula E races will have a set time of 45 minutes plus one lap – rather than a predetermined total number of laps.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E driver Kiwi Mitch Evans is expected to be among those competing.