Cadillac Racing says its first electric race car is almost ready for the 24 Hours of Daytona event in January after passing critical testing and development milestones. Since July, the V-LMDh has gone through nearly 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of on-track testing, including a 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway.

Cadillac collected data on nighttime operation and durability on the bumpy 3.7-mile circuit. Program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser claimed Sebring was the perfect testing ground for the V-LMDh ahead of its competitive debut at Daytona. “To complete that endurance test was extra motivation for our team and provided a sense of accomplishment,” Klauser said in a statement. “We still have a lot to do in a short time, but we are at the point where we are fine-tuning many things.”

The car is also slated to take part in the 24-hour race at Le Mans in June. Cadillac plans to run it in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. A final test will take place next week at Daytona as part of mandatory evaluations for all manufacturers intending to take part in the IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype class. Cadillac Racing will reveal the final competition version of the three V-LMDh race cars, including liveries (and hopefully a new name), in mid-January.

Since 2013, Gran Turismo’s Vision project has seen some of the world’s largest automakers, including Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, imagine what their cars could look like without real-world constraints. Over the weekend, GT series developer Polyphony Digital announced the latest addition to the Vision stable, an entry from Ferrari, would arrive in Gran Turismo 7 on December 23rd.

Like its predecessors, the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo features capabilities that would put any production vehicle to shame. Ferrari outfitted the concept car with “a more extreme version” of the V6 engine found on the 499P hypercar the automaker plans to field at next year’s Le Mans endurance race. In-game, the single-seat hybrid will produce more than 1,000 horsepower, with three electric motors providing additional power.

“We wanted to create a vision of the future designed without constraint, but born from Ferrari’s unrivalled understanding of engineering, aerodynamics and future technologies, and deliver it into the digital world for a whole new audience to experience,” said Ferrari Design Director Flavio Manzoni. Ferrari fans should keep their eyes out for an in-game quiz. Completing it before anyone else will grant early access to the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo.

Charging is usually one of the least exciting parts of driving an EV, but the FIA thinks it can make these pauses more engaging. As part of updated regulations, Formula E will trial a 30-second "Attack Charge" during some races in the ninth season. New battery technology will give cars 4kWh of energy from the half-minute session thanks to a 600kW booster. The charging stop will be mandatory at a specified point in the race, but drivers will receive two "enhanced" Attack Mode periods later in the race as compensation.

The quick charge is tied to the Gen3 cars making their debut in the new season. The current Attack Mode, where drivers can activate a momentary power boost, will still be available in those races where Attack Charge isn't in use. The modified Attack Mode isn't what was originally planned. According to The Race, the FIA had originally hoped to revive pit stops, but the necessary system wasn't ready in time. Those more conventional stops are expected to come, but not for a while yet.

The upcoming season also makes fundamental changes to the league's competitive format. Races now take place over a set number of laps, rather than a fixed amount of time. If there are safety car and full course yellow disruptions, organizers will add more laps. Teams will also have to complete a minimum of two Free Practice 1 sessions with rookie drivers to help them experience Formula E. And don't expect to play a role in your favorite driver's victory — the spectator-driven Fanboost is going away.

Season nine and Gen3 will launch in Mexico City this January. It's too soon to say if Attack Charge will spice up races in real-world conditions. However, it might point to the future of roadgoing EVs. Even the fastest-charging street models take at least a few minutes to get a meaningful amount of range from a charging session. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 needs five minutes on a 350kW charger for 53 miles of driving, for instance. While 600kW chargers won't become mainstream for a while (Geely's Viridi brand only unveiled its tech this September), Formula E's testing hints at a day when your EV might only need a brief stop to recover enough range for a long drive.

Formula 1 isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly organization, but it's trying to become much greener. F1 is targeting net zero carbon emissions by the end of the decade and engine makers have been testing sustainable fuels over the last few years. F1 leaders are aiming to only use sustainable fuels in F1 cars by 2026. Race cars are only a small piece of the puzzle, though. Holding two dozen grands prix around the world requires shifting cars, parts and other materials between circuits, which generate more carbon emissions.

The Mercedes-AMG F1 team, however, has experimented with a way to reduce freight emissions. It used hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO 100) biofuel in 16 trucks as it moved operations between Spa, Zandvoort and Monza for the final three European grands prix of the season. Since those circuits are relatively close to each other, Mercedes didn't need to rely on, say, air freight to ship cars and components. That gave the team a good opportunity to test the biofuel, given a total driving distance of around 1,400 kilometers (870 miles). However, the team noted it needed to use diesel fuel for the last 20km (just over 12 miles) due to supply issues.

An analysis found that using HVO 100 reduced freight emissions by 89 percent. Overall, Mercedes saved 44,091kg (97,204 pounds) of carbon dioxide emissions, compared with solely using diesel for both journeys. It noted HVO 100 is derived from vegetable oils, waste oils and fats and that it's entirely free of fossil fuels. The fuel also produces less Nox and particulate emissions.

“Sustainability is at the heart of our operations. Trialing the use of biofuels for our land freight is another example of our commitment to embed sustainability in every decision we make and action we take," Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff said. "We aim to be on the cutting edge of change and hope we can make the adoption of sustainable technology possible as we are all in the race towards a sustainable tomorrow.”

Other biofuels are being tested for use in Formula 1. Teams started using E10 biofuels (which contain 10 percent renewable ethanol) in F1 cars this season as part of the transition to fully sustainable fuels. While that's some distance away from employing fully sustainable fuels, the use of E10 and HVO 100 are positive steps toward making motorsport much healthier for the environment.

After months of innuendo, speculation and rumor, German car giant Audi has announced that it will join Formula One from the 2026 season. The VW-owned company says it will build a new hybrid engine for the competition at its facility in Neuburg. Audi said that technical changes made by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, to prevent cost overruns and improve sustainability prompted it to sign up. It’s hoped Audi will help push the sport to its ambitious goal of being climate neutral by 2030.

Broadly speaking, the FIA’s new engine specifications require a V6 engine designed to run on a more sustainable fuel blend. Paired with that will be a 400kW electric motor with an output of around 544 horsepower, making it almost as powerful as the V6 itself. Audi added that its project will be led by Adam Baker, who has previously served as the FIA’s Safety Director, and had stints with Cosworth (another F1 engine maker) and BMW.

Audi said it will announce which team it will work with “by the end of this year,” but most F1 fans feel it’s already a done deal. The longstanding rumor is that Audi will buy a majority stake in Swiss motorsport company Sauber, which currently races under the Alfa Romeo livery. As Planet F1 reports, Sauber has already been the subject of takeover talks this year and could benefit from a big auto giant’s backing.

Given the fact we’re still some years away from Audi’s first race, it’s not clear how any of this will impact the storylines on Drive To Survive, which I know is what most of you are worried about. Whatever happens, I’m sure Christian Horner will find a way to be face-punchingly smug about it.

With a second-place finish in Formula E's 100th E-Prix today, Stoffel Vandoorne secured the Season 8 Formula E world championship. The Mercedes-EQ driver made it back-to-back trophies for the team in both the drivers' and the team championships as fellow Silver Arrows pilot Nyck de Vries was the defending series champ. While Vandoorne was no match for Round 16 winner Edoardo Mortara, a podium finish after a P4 qualifying effort was enough to hold off his lone championship challenger during the final race.

Jaguar TCS' Mitch Evans put Vandoorne under pressure yesterday by winning the penultimate E-Prix in wet conditions. The Mercedes-EQ driver finished 5th, but was unable to extend the comfortable lead he had in the championship standings heading into the Seoul double-header. However, Evans couldn't replicate yesterday's magic: he only managed a seventh-place finish after starting P13.

"Just look at the season we've had," said Vandoorne. "The consistency and the car has been amazing, and the team has done an incredible job. I think every single one of us deserves it. What we've accomplished is something special."

Sunday's race marks the end of the Gen2 era in Formula E. When the series begins Season 9 in January, the Gen3 racer will be in every team's garage. The new design, which is both lighter and smaller than the Gen2 model, should allow for more “agile” wheel-to-wheel racing. These cars should be two to four seconds faster in both qualifying and race conditions thanks to an electric motor can deliver 350kW of power (470BHP) to reach top speeds of 200MPH (320 km/h). Formula E says the electric power units can convert over 90 percent of their energy to mechanical power and around 40 percent of the energy cars will use during an E-Prix will be produced by regenerative braking. Gen3 will also be the first Formula car ever with both front and rear powertrains, which will add 250kW to the 350kW in the back. 

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.

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.”

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.

Formula E’s Gen3 all-electric car will make its race debut on January 14th, 2023 in Mexico City. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced the date on Wednesday and shared the preliminary schedule for Formula E’s upcoming ninth season.

Before the official start of the competition in January, teams will have three days in December to test their new ride in Valencia, Spain. With today’s preliminary schedule, Formula E plans to host 18 races across 13 cities. That’s two more contests and three more stops than its 2022 slate. What’s more, for the first time, the Formula E circuit will visit Hyderabad in India and São Paulo, Brazil.

If you take a look at the schedule, you’ll notice a few gaps. Most notably, Formula E has yet to announce a New York City date. A spokesperson told Engadget the organization is working to organize races in South Africa and the US.

Formula E

"New York has been the home of Formula E in the USA since Season 3, with the exception of the Covid-hit Season 6 in 2020, and has delivered some epic races in front of full grandstands,” said Formula E chief championship officer Alberto Longo. “Major construction work in the Brooklyn area will make it a challenge to use the current track layout next year which is why we have not announced a specific date on the provisional Season 9 calendar. However, we will continue to work closely with our local partners in Brooklyn to explore solutions for racing in New York next season.”

Next year’s racing debut of the Gen3 is exciting for a couple of reasons. Not only is the car faster than its predecessor, but Formula E also designed it to be more agile. That’s something that should lead to more wheel-to-wheel dueling between drivers, and make the resulting races more entertaining.

Taking a page from on-track rival Mercedes, Red Bull plans to produce its own hypercar. On Tuesday, the company took to Twitter to announce the RB17, which is slated to be a two-seater with a hybrid V8 engine and 1,100 horsepower. Production will start in 2025, with Red Bull planning to only make 50 cars at a price of £5 million ($6.1 million) per vehicle.

If just so happen to be a millionaire, buying the F1-inspired RB17 will net you access to Red Bull’s team simulators and on-track training. The company will also service and maintain the car for you at the Milton Keynes factory in England where it plans to produce the RB17.

“The RB17 marks the first time that a car wearing the Red Bull brand has been available to collectors,” Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner said. “The RB17 distills everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula 1 cars into a package that delivers extreme levels of performance in a two-seat track car.”

Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey is designing the vehicle. His resume includes the Aston Martin Valkyrie and all four of Red Bull’s F1 championship-winning cars. Red Bull said the RB17 would be built around a carbon-composite tub and a body designed to take advantage of ground effect like modern F1 cars.

Formula E recently showed off its latest Gen3 car that it says is faster, more agile and "the world's most efficient" racing vehicle to date. Now, we're getting a first look at one on a track at England's Goodwood in the form of the Mahinda M9 Electro with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel. 

On its Twitter account, Goodwood said that Heidfeld was "not holding back" and it looked like the car made a clean lap other than a few minor lockups. On track, the Gen3 design certainly looks more subdued and less dramatic than the Gen2, but it's lighter (840kg compared to 920kg including driver) and quicker in every way.

The Gen3 model is very specifically designed for street circuit racing with high maneuverability and speeds up to 200 MPH. That's not quite as fast as the 220-230 MPH top speeds for F1 cars, but the Formula E vehicles do that with less than half the power. They're also highly efficient, with over double the regenerative braking capabilities of the Gen2 cars. Overall, they convert 90 percent of battery energy to mechanical power, compared to 52 percent for F1 cars. 

There are now 11 Gen3 teams confirmed with 22 cars, including DS Automobiles, Dragon/Penske, Envision, Mercedes-EQ, Avalanche Andretti, Jaguar, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan and Porsche, along with Mahindra. The first season of Gen3 will kick off this winter with pre-season testing.