Formula E car completes debut track test

The fully electric, zero emission Formula E car, which will be standard for participants of the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship in 2014-15 completed its maiden track debut at the La Ferte Gaucher circuit in France.

Former Formula 1 racing driver for Virgin Racing (now Marussia F1) and Pirelli's F1 test driver for the 2011 and 2012 seasons Lucas Di Grassi of Brazil was behind the wheel to complete 40 laps of the 3.6 km circuit over two days.

The test was largely aimed at checking the functionality of the basic systems of the car rather than its outright speed.

The Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E car was fitted with a 50kw battery, which was well short of the 200kw that the car is expected to put out in race trim; an equivalent of 270 bhp.

Seven teams have currently signed up for the inaugural Formula E championship with the last two generating the most amount of interest.

The announcement of Former F1 team Super Aguri was followed by that of automotive major Audi throwing its hat into the Formula E ring.

Audi Sport Abt Formula E is the extension of factory supported ABT Sportsline, which has won five titles for Audi in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).

By the time the inaugural Formula E race takes place in Beijing next September, 20 cars are expected to make up the grid.

You can watch the video of the debut Formula E test in the video below.

Debut Formula E test