FIA Formula E Championship to start in 2014

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has reached an agreement to license the commercial rights of the FIA Formula E Championship to a consortium of international investors, Formula E Holdings Ltd (FEH).

Formula E is a new FIA championship featuring Formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy. It represents a vision for the future of the motor industry over the coming decades.

FEH, the new promoter, has as anchor investor London-based entrepreneur Enrique Bañuelos, and as CEO and shareholder former MEP and racing team owner Alejandro Agag, who has a long experience in the motor sport business. Also associated with the project are Lord Drayson, Managing Partner of Drayson Racing Technologies, and Eric Barbaroux, Chairman of the French electric automotive company "Electric Formula".

Formula E is built around the Three Es paradigm, where there are three key elements that combine to make it relevant: firstly the source of Energy that powers these vehicles, secondly the Environmental issues at the heart of modern mobility and consumption and thirdly, the cutting edge Entertainment, on and off track that we create.

Alejandro Agag, CEO of FEH said "We are very pleased with the agreement reached with FIA. We expect this Championship to become the framework for research and development around the electric car, a key element for the future of our cities"

The series will be open to any cars sanctioned as Formula E by the FIA. The consortium will ensure that a Formula E Car, based on the Formulec EF 01 prototype already in operation, is available for those competing teams willing to race with it.

Demonstration runs of the Formula E cars will start in 2013, followed by the championship in 2014 with an objective of 10 teams and 20 drivers participating in the competition. The races will be ideally staged in the heart of the world’s leading cities, around their main landmarks.