Goodbye
We infiltrate the London E-Prix to find out how a plush hatch shares DNA with a Formula E car.
This is definitely one of my more surreal days. People with walkie talkies, high-vis jackets and very serious expressions on their faces have just let me onto the Formula E circuit at London’s ExCel centre without a chaperone. Cue a giddy nearfull lap of the track (where I miss almost every apex) making sure not to run over the crews putting the finishing touches to the circuit ahead of the race.
But I must stay focused. My primary objective? The pitlane.
DS has had a team in Formula E since its inception, and with some success: two team championship titles and three drivers’ championship titles with the DS Techeetah team. That’s now been replaced by the DS Penske team, showing DS is still committed to the sport.
It makes sense, then, that my DS 4 will feel right at home alongside Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne’s battery-electric racing cars, right? Wrong. The car is like a fish out of water – as am I. I’m used to the DS 4 getting looks of appreciation or interest as I hum through town but here it’s more like looks of confusion. Although I’ve engaged near-silent Electric mode to whisper down the pitlane past the various mechanics, organisers and marshalls, I still stand out a mile because my plush family hatch looks three times the size of the racing cars being worked on.
This once-in-a-lifetime experience highlights the fundamental point that it’s hard to see the link between Formula E and road cars. The fact that DS is the exception not the rule, as various other car makers have come and gone from the series, adds to the argument.
I miss almost every apex on my giddy lap, making sure not to run over the crews
What is it that DS can see in Formula E that eludes so many of us? Is there anything beyond a badge that makes my DS 4 and the E-Tense FE23 racing car part of the same family?
For context, bear in mind that in Formula E there’s very little wriggle room for teams to modify the Gen3 platform they must all use. Teams with links to mai
