Formula-E and the end of motorsport
As the U.S.A.'s relatively new Major League Soccer [MLS] league has been attracting ageing English Premier League football stars, so to Formula E - the electric vehicle racing series - has been attracting those Formula 1 [F1] drivers who have reached the end of the line in this [currently] more prestigious arena. But just as the MLS has almost doubled in popularity [attendances] since its inception in 1996, Formula E is set to do the same with audience figures for the 2018-19 season the highest ever since the sport was founded in 2014.
Couple this with the fight against fossil fuel use, with companies, countries and even individuals striving for a greener existence, Formula E's older brother - Formula 1 - a sport already in the fining line as participation is almost exclusively "for the wealthy" - is set to become obsolete. It may not be in the next 5 years or even the next 10, but with governments signing up to sell only "all electric" vehicles by 2040 how can there be a place for a sport that is still squarely in the camp of fossil fuel use?
Perhaps Bernie Eccelstone - the founder of F1 - saw the writing on the wall when he sold the business to an American media company in 2016, possibly getting out ahead of its inevitable decline. F1 has always been a pioneer in terms of automotive excellence, with many innovations and enhancements that have appeared in regular road cars having been first designed for F1 cars, but now with the likes of Tesla leading the cutting edge of performance and innovation in consumer vehicles, and these battery powered vehicles outperforming the petrol powered competition, the arguments for maintaining this version of the sport eventually boil down to "we’ve always done it this way" which is never the best side of history to be on!
But what of the other motorsports who face a similar fate? The infamous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy [TT] event, often described as the most dangerous motor race in the world has seen electric motorcycles trialled there since 2010, with a Japanese based team dominating recent years and pushing the electric bike fastest average speed up to over 121mph. The flagship motorcycle racing competition, MotoGP have also recently launched their own all-electric competition in MotoE, which held its inaugural season last year. Initially in support of the "main event" of the MotoGP, but as the greener credentials are championed more vigorously, it seems likely that the major sponsors will begin to defect to the sustainable option.
It is hard to predict the tipping point when corporate responsibility, public and government pressures and indeed exciting competition combine to swing the needle in the direction of electric motorsport but as we see technological breakthroughs across all industry lessening the dependence on fossil fuels, it is a question of when and not if.
