bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Mathew Scott

Formula E boss Alejandro Agag has revealed plans are under way to bring mainland China back into the fold of the electric racing series.
“China is one of our pillars,” said Agag. “Of course we have Hong Kong, which is great, but now we are working on a second race, in mainland China.
“Those two races would be for the long term and would be the base for electric car racing in China [because] the electric car market in China is where The Frontier is.”
Mainland China hosted the first Formula E Grand Prix – won by Audi Sport ABT’s Lucas di Grassi in Beijing in 2014 – and again opened the season in 2015.
But suitable arrangements could not be made for last season, and Hong Kong picked up its first major international motorsport event.

China has placed itself at the forefront of the push for the motor industry to go electric, with the government stating last week that manufacturers would have to ensure 12 per cent of the vehicles they put on the road were electric by 2020.
Watch: How Formula E transformed Hong Kong’s harbourfront


“I think the direction is realistic,” said Agag. “What is good in China is the government sets the direction and gives clarity to the actors in the market and then the actors can operate. I think China is going to be the leader of the electric revolution.”
Agag was speaking on the sidelines of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo just outside Valencia on the second day of Formula E’s official preseason testing.

The circuit kicks off its fourth season with the FIA Hong Kong E-Prix double-header around the Central Harbourfront across the weekend of December 2-3.
Ten teams will contest Formula E’s fourth season, with a pumped-up presence from motorsport giants Audi.
Major manufactures Porsche and Mercedes are set to join in season five – when rapidly improving technology will mean drivers will only need to use one car per race. Currently, they have to switch cars when their batteries run out.
Watch: On board the cars in Hong Kong


Agag admitted to being surprised at how far Formula E had come so quickly, considering the concept was only first mooted back in 2012.
“We are far beyond our expectations,” he said. “It’s been like a snowball gathering momentum. When we created it of course we had hopes but even in the first season we didn’t know if there was going to be a second season.

“We’ve got to the point where the perception in the market, in the motorsport world, is that Formula E is not the next big thing, it is here. The next big thing is happening. The industry is going electric.”
Agag said it wasn’t so much that Formula E was changing the world, but that the planet was changing of its own accord.
“City pollution and climate change have become a much more immediate problem,” he said. “And electric cars are a very direct way to fight city pollution. People are a lot more worried and a lot more responsible than they were five years ago.
“Also there is the technology and this is like the digital revolution. It’s like the mobile phone revolution. It is unstoppable. It’s not us. It’s the world. The world has changed.”

Organisers of the Hong Kong event have reached out to the public for its second edition, and it seems to be having the desired effect with a ballot for free access to the e-Village entertainment area attracting more than 23,000 entries by the end of September.
There were concerns last year raised over just how many people could see the event and the old bugbear of disruption to the city’s roads. Agag said such worries come with the territory.
“The criticism will always happen,” he said. “If you go to Monaco, the critics have been there for 89 years. That’s just the way it is.
“If you race in a city not everyone can see and you have to shut down some streets. That’s inevitable for a city race. But once you have done it people see that these bad things are not so bad and the really cool thing is that we have this event in Hong Kong.”


International motor racing to return to Hong Kong with 2023 World RX series finale confirmed for November

Hong Kong to miss out on another Formula E season, organisers hopeful for 2024 return

Hong Kong Formula E race left off 2020-21 calendar amid political turmoil and Covid-19 pandemic

Formula E still needs to make a few changes for success in Hong Kong

Hong Kong E-Prix

2019 FIA Formula E Hong Kong E-Prix

‘China is going to lead the electric car revolution,’ says Formula E chief Alejandro Agag as he targets return to the mainland for fledgling motorsport

Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi in action at last year’s Hong Kong e-prix. Photo: SCMP / KY Cheng

Formula E testing. Oct 2017. Photo: Formula E

Alejandro Agag, chief executive of Formula E; attends a press conference of HKT Hong Kong ePrix in Admiralty. 31MAY16 SCMP/Dickson Lee

Renault e.dams driver Nicolas Prost (in blue car) and Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Mitch Evans (right, no.20) in action at 2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix in Central. 09OCT16 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

'Hong Kong will become most beautiful race of Formula E calendar' - the HK$300m vision for massive event

FIA Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jnr at the launch in Central of Hong Kong's hosting of a leg of the series. Photo: Edmond So

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying with FIA Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jnr at the launch in Central of Hong Kong's hosting of a leg of the series. Photo: Edmond So

FIA Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jnr says he is looking forward to racing in Hong Kong. 

Alejandro Agag at the Formula E launch.

Can Formula E coup make Hong Kong one of Asia's motor sport capitals once more?

Nelson Piquet Jnr with CY Leung and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung. Photos: Edmond So

Nelson Piquet Jnr is excited that Formula E will come to Hong Kong. 

Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag gives the media a run down of racing's newest sensation. 

Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang    purchases ‘multi million euro’ stake in Formula E Holdings

Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang has acquired a stake in Formula E Holdings. Photo: Bloomberg

Dear Formula E: I’m not ‘negative’ about your event, but it’s not my job to sell it either

Alejandro Agag and Jean Todt

Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland (L) takes a corner during the Formula E championship in Hong Kong on October 9, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Anthony WALLACE

01 Mar 2015, Milan, Italy --- Victoria Silvstedt, Amber Le Bon, Jean Todt, Hofit Golan, Cristina De Pin at the Roberto Cavalli fashion show as part of the Milan Fashion Week Women's wear Fall/Winter 2015/2016, in Milan. Pictured: Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh --- Image by © Pierre Teyssot/Splash News/Corbis [29MARCH2015 FEATURE 3 POST MAGAZINE]

Formula E - FIA Formula E Hong Kong ePrix , Hong Kong - 9/10/16. Renault-eDAMS's Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland is greeted after winning. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Electric dreams: Hosting a leg of the Formula E series will put Hong Kong at forefront of the technology race

An artist's impression of a Formula E car with Hong Kong skyline. Illustration: Emilio Rivera

Sport

Other Sport

China

Hong Kong

Tech

Big Tech

News

Money & Wealth

Business

China Business

Ahead of Hong Kong return, the racing series is desperate to establish a base on the mainland to capitalise on government’s new electric-car push


Formula E

‘China is going to lead the electric car revolution,’ says Formula E chief Alejandro Agag as he targets return to the mainland for fledgling motorsport

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ahead of Hong Kong return, the racing series is desperate to establish a base on the mainland to capitalise on government’s new electric-car push

Ahead of Hong Kong return, the racing series is desperate to establish a base on the mainland to capitalise on government’s new electric-car push