Over-the-counter hearing aid sales should soon become a practical reality in the US. The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule allowing the sales of hearing aids for mild-to-moderate impairment without requirements for exams, prescriptions or audiologist fittings. The measure is expected to take effect in mid-October, when you should see aids reach physical retail stores.
You'll still need a prescription for severe hearing loss, or for anyone under 18. The FDA has also set design and performance requirements for over-the-counter aids, and has tweaked rules for prescriptions to ensure "consistency." The definitive rule comes in response to public and industry feedback, including lower maximum sound output, a requirement for user volume control and canal depth limits.
Congress first passed laws requiring over-the-counter hearing aids in 2017 in a bid to lower healthcare costs, improve access and spur competition. In theory, you would see more people wearing the devices as access and technology improve. However, the FDA didn't propose the necessary rule to fully implement the wearables until October 2021.
It could be awhile before there's a wide range of choices, but there are already offerings here or in the works. Lexie, for instance, recently began selling the $899 B1 using technology from Bose's reportedly defunct hearing aid division. Companies like Jabra have also leaped in early. The prices aren't trivial, but they're relative bargains when aids have historically cost thousands of dollars before insurance.
Dell is releasing two new Alienware-branded monitors this fall. Before you ask, they don’t feature QD-OLED panels like the drool-worthy AW3423DW. The more interesting of the two new monitors is the 27-inch AW2723DF. It features an LG Nano IPS panel with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, a native 240Hz refresh rate and a claimed 1ms gray to gray response time.
A factory overclock lets you push the refresh rate to 280Hz for games like Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. For more immersive gaming, the monitor comes with support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync. It doesn’t feature local dimming, but for what it’s worth, HDR performance was good enough for the AW2723DF to earn VESA’s DisplayHDR 600 badge.
Dell
Alienware is billing the AW2723DF as the perfect monitor for gamers who do content creation on the side. The AW2723DF’s screen covers 95 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. A toggle found in the monitor’s OSD menu allows you to switch to sRGB when doing work for the web. As with most Dell-made monitors, the AW2723DF won’t leave you wanting for ports. On top of the usual DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 connections, the monitor features multiple USB 3.2 Gen 1 inputs, as well as a headphone jack and audio output. All that’s missing is an HDMI 2.1 connection for console gaming. New to the Alienware design is a retractable headset hanger. The stand offers swivel, pivot, tilt and height adjustment. You can also VESA mount the AW2723DF if you want to use it with a monitor arm.
For the competitive gaming crowd, there’s the AW2523HF. It comes with a 25-inch LG IPS panel that features a Full HD resolution, 360Hz refresh rate and up to 0.5ms gray to gray response time. The screen covers 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut and is FreeSync Premium Pro certified. Like its sibling, the AW2523HF features a retractable hanger for storing your gaming headset. The AW2523HF also comes with a hexagonal stand instead of the V-shaped one that you find on most Alienware monitors. Dell says the design gives the AW2523HF a smaller footprint.
Dell
Of the two monitors, the AW2523HF will arrive first. It will go on sale on September 7th for $450. Meanwhile, the AW2723DF will cost $650 when it hits store shelves on October 6th.
Russia decommissioned its last self-run space station, Mir, in 2001. Now Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, has shared a model of the country’s future station, as it prepares to move out of the International Space Station. Nicknamed ROSS by state-controlled media, it would launch in two phases, starting with four modules and expanding to six with a service platform. The design would accommodate four people in rotating tours and reportedly offer better monitoring of Earth than Russia gets from the ISS today.
State media claim the first phase will launch between 2025 and 2030, with Russia expected to leave the ISS in 2024. It announced its departure from the ISS in July in response to sanctions and other measures following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.
Samsung has gone all-out on its next-generation monitor. Samsung claims the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. You also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio, and it’s got six built-in speakers that create a dome of sound. Oh, and you can use it vertically.
The software is out of beta and brings some small but useful new tools.
Android 13 is coming out of beta and will start rolling out to Google’s Pixel phones today, with devices from Samsung, ASUS, Nokia (HMD), Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi and more expected to get the update later this year.
The latest version of Google's mobile operating system brings more granular privacy controls, a new photo picker, Bluetooth LE audio and more. Messaging app streaming might be the most notable new feature, letting you cast your messaging apps to your Chromebook so you can chat with your friends on your laptop. Google said this works with Messages "and many of your other favorite messaging apps." The company added you'll "soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet," or the other way around.
From a company that worked on the movie trilogy’s special effects.
Wētā Workshop is working on a new Lord of the Rings game alongside publisher Private Division. The game is in early development and few details have been announced, but Wētā Workshop has "the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books," according to a press release. If you’re wondering who or what WētāWorkshop is, it worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as well as The Hobbit trilogy. The special effects powerhouse is also collaborating with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It set up its gaming division in 2014.
TikTok has introduced a basic AI greenscreen effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It's much simpler than OpenAI's DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions — which makes it a lot less interesting. However, AI art tools like DALL-E are usually limited to a select group of users. TikTok, meanwhile, has over a billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience.
The company is also redesigning its bikes for home assembly.
Peloton may soon allow users of competing fitness equipment to stream its workouts to their bikes and treadmills. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Barry McCarthy said the company is “rethinking” its digital strategy. Peloton could adopt a freemium model offering some features and workouts in its mobile and TV app for free. Currently, the software costs $13 per month. In the future, people with stationary bikes or treadmills from companies like Bowflex, Echelon and NordicTrack could also stream Peloton's content to their equipment’s display.
Weta Workshop is venturing back to Middle-earth. It's working on a new Lord of the Rings game alongside publisher Private Division. The game is in early development and few details have been announced, though the two sides hope to release it in Private Division parent Take-Two’s 2024 fiscal year, which ends in March 2024.
Under its deal with Middle-earth Enterprises, Weta Workshop has "the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books," according to a press release. “It’s a privilege to create a new game set in Middle-earth, especially one that’s so different from what fans have played previously,” Weta Workshop's head of interactive Amie Wolken said. “As fans ourselves, we’re excited for gamers to explore Middle-earth in a way they never have before, and introduce new fans to the magic of The Lord of the Rings.”
There have been dozens of Lord of the Rings games over the years, so it will be interesting to see what kind of fresh spin Weta Workshop is planning. Of course, Weta Workshop has a ton of experience in this domain. It worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as well as The Hobbit trilogy. The special effects powerhouse, which set up a gaming division in 2014, is also collaborating with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Private Division, meanwhile, has recently published games like The Outer Worlds, OlliOlli Worldand Rollerdrome(which is out this week).
This is not the only Lord of the Rings game that's in the pipeline. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum had been expected to arrive in early September, but Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon recently delayed it "by a few months."
Boasting a huge quantum mini LED panel with a 1000R curve, the Ark delivers an immersive experience with great visuals and surprisingly good sound. Not only does Samsung claim that the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, 165 Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time, you also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. And while the sound on many monitors is often an afterthought (assuming they can even output anything at all), the Ark features a total of six speakers: one in each corner and two woofers in back. And when combined Samsung says the Ark’s speakers were designed to create a dome of sound.
And now, after getting the chance to check this thing out in person, I can say this monitor is unlike anything else on the market. Even compared to other ultrawide displays, the Ark’s dimensions allow it to wrap around you like some sort of high-tech cocoon. Colors are rich and, thanks to its matte finish, you don’t have to worry about reflections ruining your graphics. The monitor also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for VRR, so you can get the best performance regardless if you’re gaming on a console or a PC. And while you won’t see pure blacks like you would with an OLED display, Samsung says the Ark’s contrast is 4 times better than its previous-gen monitors.
Meanwhile, to make controlling the Ark easy, Samsung includes not one but two remotes, both of which have built-in solar panels so you don’t have to worry about keeping them charged. The first remote is similar to what you’d get with a TV, but the one that feels a bit more special is the wireless Ark Dial. It lets you quickly change video settings, adjust volume and switch between the monitor's special display modes. It’s super easy to use, and best of all, it means you don’t have to reach around back and fumble with hidden buttons or a joystick like you do with a lot of rival monitors.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The best thing about the Ark is all the modes and features Samsung included to help you get the most out of this giant panel. First, there’s Flex Move Screen, which allows you to adjust the size of your content and move it around, you know, in case you don’t need the Ark’s full 55 inches. There’s also Samsung’s Gaming Hub which supports game streaming platforms like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Google Stadia natively. You even get RGB lighting on the back, not that you can really see it with so muchscreen between you and the rear of the display.
But my favorite thing is the Multi View mode, which lets you have up to three different apps open at once, including the ability to move and resize windows however you like. That means you can game while having a movie and social media on the side, or you can double up by having two games open plus YouTube, or basically anything in between. And if there’s a layout you particularly like, you can save that arrangement so next time, you can open everything up with a single press. The one caveat is that due to a limitation of HDMI, you can only display content from the Ark’s built-in apps and one external device at the same time. So while you can have a console and a PC plugged in at the same time thanks to support for four HDMI ports (all of which are HDMI 2.1), you can’t output content from both simultaneously.
Finally, there’s the Ark’s special move, which is being able to rotate into portrait orientation, or as Samsung calls it, Cockpit mode. You still get support for all of the monitor’s features like Multi View and Flex Move, but now on a display that curves up and over your head. And you know what, it really does feel like you’re sitting in the pilot’s seat on a plane. My only regret is that I wish I could have installed a shoot ‘em up like Ikaruga, so I could really take advantage of the Ark’s verticality in Cockpit mode. And if you want a huge new display but don’t have a ton of desk space, Samsung even includes a VESA wall mount in the box.
That said, starting at $3,500, the Odyssey Ark is a big financial commitment for anyone. But if none of the other monitors released this year are big enough for you, Samsung’s new flagship gaming monitor could be the massive centerpiece your home battle station needs.
Pre-orders for the Odyssey Ark start today, and when combined with reservation discounts, potential customers can save up to $300 before sales officially go live sometime in early September.
If you've been on the lookout for a robot vacuum to help you clean your home, a new sale at Wellbots gives you the chance to pick up some of iRobot's most advanced devices for less. The Roomba j7 and j7+ robo-vacs are both $200 off when you use the code ENGADGET200 at checkout, bringing them down to $399 and $599, respectively. If you want to go all-out, you can also get $200 off the Roomba s9+ using the same code and get it for $799.
Both the j7 series and the s9+ earned spots in our best robot vacuums guide. The j7 models are better for most people because they're cheaper and still have a ton of advanced features. iRobot came out with these models about one year ago and billed them as their first pet poop-detecting robo-vacs. AI-driven computer vision helps these machines navigate around obstacles more efficiently, which means they should be able to avoid any accidents your pets have on your floors. Plus, if they don't avoid the mess, iRobot promises it'll send you a new vacuum to replace your soiled one.
In use, the Roomba j7 cleans both carpeted and hard floors well and it navigates back to its charging base before it runs out of battery. If you go for the j7+, you'll get a clean base as well, which is essentially a garbage can attached to the charging dock into which the robot empties its bin after each job. If you really don't like vacuuming and want to interact with your machine as little as possible, the clean base will come in handy since it can hold up to 60 days worth of debris.
As for the Roomba s9+, it's probably overkill for most people — but it's one of the best robot vacuums available today. It has a sleek design and, since it has 40x the suction power of a standard Roomba, it cleans floors really well and does a good job picking up pet hair. It also returns to its clean base after each job and it'll empty its dustbin automatically. Both it and the j7 series can connect to iRobot's mobile app, allowing you to start cleaning jobs remotely and set schedules and check in on the machine if it gets stuck anywhere in your home. iRobot's app is another major selling point for these devices — it's pretty straight-forward and easy to use, so if it's your first time using a robot vacuum, it won't be too hard to set it up and customize it to your liking.
The longstanding green car partnership between BMW and Toyota is relatively close to bearing more fruit. As Autoblogexplains, BMW sales chief Pieter Nota told Nikkei in an interview that the brands aim to sell jointly-developed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as soon as 2025. Nota didn't hint at what to expect, but stressed that fuel cells are "particularly relevant" for large SUVs like the iX5 Hydrogen concept (above). Small-volume production of the iX5 is expected to start by the end of this year.
BMW and Toyota have collaborated on numerous cars over the years, including the recent revival of the Supra sports car. They formalized their green vehicle tech alliance at the start of 2013, but didn't expect to complete work on an inclusive fuel cell system until 2020.
It may seem odd to continue work on hydrogen-powered vehicles at a time when EVs are much more popular. However, Nota pointed to a number of familiar defenses for the technology. Fuel cell cars can be refilled in just a few minutes where EVs take several times longer to recharge, for instance. Nota also said that BMW didn't want to pour all its investments into one technology, and that hydrogen models aren't as prone to supply shortages as their electric counterparts.
Regardless, BMW might soon ramp up EV development. Pure electric cars have represented a larger slice of sales than previously expected, and Nota suggested the company could reach its 50 percent EV sales target (including brands like Mini and Rolls-Royce) "one or two years earlier" than the current 2030 goal. While BMW still has a stake in the combustion engine world, it might not last long.
It's a good time to stock up on travel-friendly accessories before your next trip. A number of Anker portable batteries, wireless chargers and other accessories are on sale, and you can save even more if you're an Amazon Prime member. Those who need to work while on the go can pick up Samsung's T7 Shield SSD for the cheapest price we've seen, while Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro drop to an al-time-low price just days after the company announced the latest version of the earbuds in the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. On top of all that, the Apple TV 4K is on sale for only $120 and you can pick up a base iPad for as low as $299. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Apple TV 4K
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
The Apple TV 4K is back in stock at Amazon and on sale for $120. While not quite as cheap as it was on Prime Day last month ($109), this remains one of the best prices we've seen no our favorite high-end set-top box. We gave the device a score of 90 for its fast performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, HomeKit integration and much-improved Siri remote.
Most models of Apple's iPad are on sale at Amazon right now, so you can pick one up for as low as $299. The 256GB version is down to $399 as well, and most WiFi + Cellular tablets have been discounted, too. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid performance, excellent battery life and improved Center Stage cameras.
A couple of colors of the Apple Watch Series 7 are on sale for $299, or $100 off their usual rate. That's also close to the record-low price we saw on Prime Day last month. We gave the wearable a score of 90 for its larger screen, faster charging and handy watchOS capabilities. However, if you want the latest from Apple, it may be worth waiting until September when the company historically has announced its latest phones and smartwatches.
Amazon Prime members can save up to 40 percent on Anker charging accessories, including the 521 magnetic battery pack for MagSafe-compatible iPhones, which is $20 off and down to $30. It's a 5,000 mAh portable battery that attaches to the back of the latest iPhones to power them up. Also on sale is Anker's 511 2-in-1 power bank, which is down to $35. That accessory works with more devices since it's an AC charger and portable battery in one.
Amazon's Echo Show 5 is back on sale for $40, or only $5 more than it was during Prime Day last month. This is one of our favorite smart displays and we like it for its compact design and its tap-to-snooze feature, both of which make the device a good smart alarm clock. Also on sale is the Echo Dot, which is $10 off and down to $40.
The larger Echo Show 8 has also been discounted to $85, which is $45 off its normal price and only $10 more than its all-time low. We gave it a score of 87 for its lovely screen, great sound quality and its 13MP camera that keeps you in frame when you're video chatting.
On the heels of Unpacked this week, Amazon discounted the Galaxy Buds Pro to $120, which is 40 percent off and their best price yet. We gave them a score of 85 for their solid sound quality, comfortable fit and wireless charging capabilities. Samsung just announced their successors, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, this week — you can pre-order them now for $230, and check back on Engadget for our full review in the coming weeks.
Samsung's new T7 Shield SSD in 1TB is down to a new record low of $100, which is $60 less than usual. This is the most durable version of Samsung's palm-sized portable drive, featuring a rubberized exterior and enough protection to survive up to 9.8-foot drops. It has sequential read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s, plus Dynamic Thermal Guard and 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard.
Both the NVIDIA Shield TV and the TV Pro streaming devices have dropped back down to record lows of $125 and $170, respectively. Both run Android TV and support voice commands from the Google Assistant as well as Amazon's Alexa if you have a compatible smart speaker in your home. They also both support 4K HDR content, Dolby Vision and Atmos, along with Chromecast capabilities.
A couple of Eufy robot vacuums are up to 47 percent off at Amazon right now. The RoboVac G30 Edge is down to a record low of $180, while the G30 Hybrid is on sale for only $220. Both of these are some of Eufy's more affordable machines — the G30 Edge comes with physical boundary strips that let you set no-go zones and the G30 Hybrid is a robot vacuum and mop in one.
Amazon includes a free Blink Mini camera when you buy a Blink Outdoor kit, so you'll save $35 in total on the bundle. Blink cameras are a relatively affordable way to outfit your home with security cameras — all of them record 1080p video and support two-way audio and motion alerts. The Outdoor cameras are wireless and weather-resistant, while the Blink Mini is a smaller, wired camera that's designed to fit into tight spaces inside your home.
The Beats Studio Buds are back on sale for $100, or $50 off their usual rate. These are some of the best Beats earbuds for most people and we gave them a score of 84 for their comfortable design, good sound quality and ANC and fast pairing with both iOS and Android devices.
Sony's LinkBuds S are on sale for $148, which is 26 percent off and a new all-time low. These buds came out earlier this year and support smart playback, which lets them automatically play and pause music depending on what you're doing.
It’s been more than a month since PlayStation Plus Premium went live, cementing the video game industry’s shift toward cloud gaming and subscriptions. PlayStation’s game-streaming scheme is competing directly with Xbox Game Pass, the service that proved the concept by earning more than 25 million subscribers over the past five years, leveraging Microsoft’s massive cloud network.
As the two main console manufacturers and the owners of huge franchises, Sony and Microsoft set the stage for the rest of the video game marketplace, and the transition to streaming subscriptions is no different. Here we’ll break down what they’re each offering and take a look at the industry from the perspective of the cloud.
PlayStation Plus has three tiers: Essential, Extra and Premium. Essential costs $10 a month or $60 a year, and it’s basically the PlayStation Plus you’re used to, offering three games to download each month, access to online multiplayer features, cloud storage and discounts. PS Plus Extra costs $15 a month or $100 a year, and has everything in the Essential tier plus a library of up to 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 games.
PS Plus Premium costs $18 a month or $120 a year, and adds up to 340 games from past PlayStation consoles. This is also the tier that unlocks cloud gaming, supporting more than 700 titles and adding the ability to stream or download games from older eras. This tier actually replaces PlayStation Now, Sony’s often-underwhelming cloud gaming service that launched on PS4. With PS Plus Premium, cloud gaming is available on PS4, PS5 and PC, but not on mobile devices.
Sony
That’s one difference between Sony and Microsoft’s approach, as Xbox titles are playable on mobile devices as well as consoles and PC. But the bigger distinction is the type of games that are available on each network. Sony doesn’t plan on adding big exclusive games like Forspoken or God of War Ragnarök to Plus on day one, meaning subscribers will have to buy these titles separately if they want to play right away. On the Xbox side of things, Game Pass Ultimate offers a streaming library of more than 300 titles, and it includes big first-party drops like Halo Infinite on release day. That’s significant, considering Xbox owns influential studios including Bethesda and id Software, and it’s in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard. Xbox offering the next Doom or Elder Scrolls on day one is a bigger draw than Sony offering Stray, even if Stray is the most adorable game of the year.
Xbox has been the loudest proponent of cloud gaming in the console space, and with the support of a robust network from Microsoft and years of public testing, Game Pass has set the standard when it comes to subscription services. Game Pass has PC-only and console-only tiers providing access to a library of more than 300 downloadable games for $10 a month, while Game Pass Ultimate unlocks cloud play on PC, mobile and Xbox consoles for $15 a month. Assuming you pay for PS Plus Premium up-front, this puts the annual price of Game Pass Ultimate ahead of Premium by $60 – which is roughly what it’ll cost PlayStation subscribers to buy one of those first-party Sony games, so it all shakes out in the end.
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget
Xbox has been steadily building the foundation for an industry that isn’t limited by hardware, relying on cloud gaming rather than console generations, while Sony still seems married to the idea of hardware cycles and more traditional game sales. Despite being there first with PlayStation Now, when it comes to streaming, Sony is playing catch-up to Microsoft, but it still has plenty to offer in the form of classic games and new exclusives. Cloud play is here to stay and it’s possible that other services like Steam and the Epic Games Store will follow Xbox and PlayStation’s lead in the coming years. Nintendo is bringing up the rear in terms of online, cloud, and anything resembling 21st century technology, but it has an unrivaled back catalog and Switch Online unlocks a number of NES, SNES and N64 games.
This isn’t about any one service being better than the others. This is about adjusting to the new normal for video games, where your money won’t be spent on a $60 disc or a discrete download code, but will instead be spread among streaming services with individual purchases on the side. We’re used to this idea when it comes to TV and movies, and streaming technology is almost reliable enough to make it the standard in gaming.
These are the new calculations we'll be running each month: Do I value Game Pass Ultimate over Netflix? Or PS Plus Premium over Spotify? New subscription services pop up almost weekly; something's gotta give.
When the checkered flag drops Sunday in Seoul, Formula E will have run its 100th race. It’s a far cry from the series’ humble beginnings: a shared idea from Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag and FIA president Jean Todt, jotted down on a napkin in 2011. In three years, a group launched the world’s first all-electric single-seater championship. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“The people that we knew were laughing about the venture,” Formula E co-founder and chief championship officer Alberto Longo said on a call with the media last week. “And now, look how far we’ve come.”
Longo’s assessment is accurate. Formula E has indeed come a long way since Season 1 and that first race at Olympic Park in Beijing. Most notably, the series has become a hotbed for innovation with a number automakers fielding teams. Mahindra has been there from the start, with Audi, BMW, DS, Jaguar, Mercedes, Nissan, Porsche, Renault and others participating along the way. Several teams — like Mahindra, Venturi and Andretti — have also remained active in Formula E since that first season.
“Race 100 is a huge validation of the work people have done,” Longo said. “Everybody was saying we were going to fail.”
With all of that in its past, only one driver is poised to drive in all 100 E-Prix: Season 3 champion Lucas di Grassi. He also won the first-ever race back in 2014, amassing 13 wins and 38 podium finishes since. This weekend in Seoul, he’s on the verge of eclipsing 1,000 career points. So, he knows a thing or two about how far the series has come.
Lucas Di Grassi won the London E-Prix in July.
Sebastian Frej/MB Media via Getty Images
“Since Season 1, there have been massive changes,” di Grassi said during a media roundtable. “It has matured and it has moved from being something new and full of doubts to something which has been able to deliver on its promises.” He explained that Formula E is just like any other racing series now when you consider teams that have come and gone, and those that may return.
The Gen2 car debuted in 2018/19 for Season 5 with double the energy storage capacity of Gen1, which meant teams no longer needed to trade out cars during the race — or pit at all for that matter. Of course, the cars are faster, but one car per driver also meant the stakes were that much higher on E-Prix weekends.
“When we went from Gen1 to Gen2, you could actually see that the technology was starting to work,” Longo said. “We moved from having to use two cars to only one car.”
Gen2 also debuted a more “Batmobile-esque” design, with more power and a top speed of 174MPH. One of Formula E’s unique elements, Attack Mode, also arrived with Gen 2, giving drivers a timed power boost. The only catch is they have to leave the main racing line to activate it, which can mean sacrificing position for the extra power.
"The technology is only getting better and the cars are getting faster,” di Grassi explained. “Every month the battery tech, powertrain tech and so on evolves. It’s still in its relative infancy and we’re going to see big leaps still going forward."
Like every sport in the world, Formula E had to deal with the effects of a global pandemic in 2020. The series had completed just five races by the end of February when everyone, everywhere entered lockdown due to COVID-19. The season was suspended in mid-March. Formula E would emerge that August in Berlin, holding six E-Prix in nine days at the Tempelhof Airport.
“Looking back, those six races in Berlin were really important for us,” Longo said. “During COVID, we managed to mitigate the risk of traveling and finish the season.”
It’s fitting then that Formula E’s 100th race marks the end of the Gen2 era. When the series returns in 2023 for Season 9, the Gen3 car will be in every team’s garage. Formula E has already shown off “the world’s most efficient racing car,” unveiling the design and key specs ahead of the Monaco E-Prix in April. Indeed, the jump to the next generation will deliver another massive leap in innovation for the series. A top speed of 200MPH with 350kW of power, 100kW more than Gen2. The electric power units can convert over 90 percent of their energy to mechanical power, making them insanely efficient. Not to mention producing around 40 percent of the power needed to complete a race through regenerative braking. Plus, there’s a new body design that’s decidedly more F-18 fighter jet than Batmobile. And overall, the new cars should allow for tighter wheel-to-wheel racing across Formula E’s calendar of street circuits.
“We’ll drive much faster, smaller and lighter cars which will be even more impressive to see on-track,” di Grassi said. “The events are going in the right direction, providing a better and better product for fans to come and involve themselves with. The evolution will continue in this way — on the technical side and in the spectacle."
Formula E’s impact hasn’t been solely on the race track either. di Grassi knows the series has opened the world’s eyes to the potential of EVs.
“We can also see how many more people are interested in and aware of electric vehicles,” he noted. "For me, even if you help a little bit, this little bit has already helped to accelerate the advent of technology and change perceptions of consumers and manufacturers about electric cars — so it’s been well worth it.”
The Jakarta E-Prix circuit.
Formula E
Both the 100th race and the end of Season 8 are poised to be must-see TV. There’s a four-way fight for this year’s championship, with Mercedes-EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne sitting atop the standings, holding a 36-point lead. Jaguar TCS’ Mitch Evans and ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara sit 2nd and 3rd, separated by five points. Both Mortara and 4th-place Jean-Eric Verne failed to score any points in the last two rounds during the double-header in London.
Mercedes-EQ could not only snatch its second consecutive driver’s trophy (its other driver Nyck de Vries is the defending champ), it’s leading the team standings heading into the last two races by 36 points. A team championship would make two in a row for Mercedes, and the perfect ending before McLaren takes over the team next season.
There’s no denying the sport’s popularity has grown in eight years and it’s poised to continue the upward trajectory. The Jakarta E-Prix in early June was watched live by 13.4 million people — just in Indonesia. It was the first time the series had hosted an event in that city too, and over 60,000 fans attended in-person. Celebrating the most memorable moments, Longo mentioned Jakarta when listing off key achievements during the 100-race stint.
“The most-watched race in Formula E history,” Longo said.
