Formula E will start its 5th season this weekend

In search for new topics, the makers of model cars are increasingly reaching their limits: Almost no car that had ever been on the roads and race tracks of the world, was scaled down to a model car. The manufacturers appreciate, when a new racing series becomes established: the Formula E, for example, which enjoys increasing popularity. Spark has taken the opportunity to bring many models in the scale 1:43 on the market, but also in scale 1:18, miniatures have appeared. Next Saturday, December 15th, 2018, the next round of the FIA Formula E Championship will begin - with 22 racing cars of the newest-generation, new circuits, new drivers and new regulations. The first race takes place in Ad Diriyah, a suburb of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, on a new course.

A wise decision, because the race can take place there in bright sunshine, may be considered as a secured assumption; Germany would not be a suitable place for the prevailing winter weather conditions. The new city circuit of Ad Diriyah is 2.5 kilometers long. Let's take a look at the changes, introduced to the Formula E with the start of the new season. The seasonal FIA Formula E format is 45 minutes plus one lap. In the 2018/19 season, the FIA Formula E introduces numerous new rules in the regulations. This increases the number of fanboosts that can influence the race. Thus, a total of five drivers, who become selected by the fans, are going to get a boost of energy on the track - so two more than before. In addition, the vote ends only 15 minutes after the start of the race, in the future events.

With the introduction of the so called Attack Mode, the FIA Formula E Championship once again proves its innovativeness. The new feature presents additional challenges to all teams. After activation, it temporarily increases vehicle power from 200 kW to 225 kW in race mode, which gives the driver an advantage of a short time. The mode opens up new strategic opportunities, such as overtaking, and enables more dynamic races. To switch to Attack mode, the driver must drive through a marked activation zone at the border of the track. The number of activations and the duration of use are set by the FIA at each race. André Lotterer: "The Formula E has made a big leap forward in the last year and it is very exciting to be part of this motorsport series, which is always reinventing itself."

But the cars are also innovating: The DS E-TENSE FE19, built at the new development site of the DS Performance Team in Versailles near Paris, has its own newly developed brake-by-wire braking system to gain a competitive advantage. The racing car offers a maximum power of 248 kW / 338 hp and accelerates from zero to 100 km / h in 2.8 seconds. In addition, it has a larger battery capacity of 52 kWh, which survives the entire race. Thus, the vehicle exchange is unnecessary. This is the real innovation, which of course also applies to the other teams and reduces the car pool and thus the costs. Perhaps also a contribution to take the formula E more seriously, because a car that does not survive a single race, seemed comically.

Model cars of theFormula E, which we still have in stock

Let's hear Formula E driver Jean-Éric Vergne: "Having been in the FIA Formula E Championship almost since the beginning of the FIA Formula E Championship, I have witnessed the remarkable progress of this motorsport series, not only for the performance of the cars, but also for their implementation of new ideas within the races. As a driver we want to experience great races as well as the fans." We still offer great model cars to the previous seasons in our range, but many are sold out. There are still to have some models from the season 2016/17: The Venturi VM200 including the car of Maro Engel for example, the Techeetah Renault Z.E. 16 and the NextEV Nio 700R. Still available in the shop are the ABT Schaeffler FE02 by Daniel Abt and a few more.

BMW with new factory team at the start

We do not yet have any miniatures of one team, namely the newly formed factory team of the Formula E from BMW. The Bavarians start with the BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team and the start of the fifth season in a new constellation in the Formula E and rely on the reputation of Michael Andretti: "The start of our first season as the BMW factory team it is a big event for us. Andretti and BMW have learned a lot from each other over the past two seasons and have been working to go as BMW i Andretti Motorsport in Season 5. I can not wait to see the BMW iFE.18 on the track this season, so we will not bee seen as BMW and Andretti anymore, but as one team - BMW i Andretti Motorsport, a team that will compete together in the Formula E and hopefully will celebrate success." We keep our fingers crossed!

Here: Click to the modelcars of the Formula E