Oliver Rowland has described the new Gen4 Formula E car as “really impressive” after sampling the Nissan development car at Monteblanco in Spain for the first time late last month.
Rowland completed two days of running alongside the team’s development driver Sam Bird. Nissan shared the test days with Porsche who ran both Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein.
Rowland declared himself pleasantly surprised with the amount of power, specifically from the front of the car via the active differential connected to the front powertrain, which is supplied by Marelli.
The Nissan driver is one of the last full time manufacturer race drivers to get cockpit time in the Gen4 car and is set to complete several more days across the summer before the cars are homologated in late September/early October and then head to the pre-season test at Jarama, now confirmed for mid-November. The first Gen4 season is likely to begin in mid-December, with the calendar set to be announced at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting on June 23.
“It’s quite unique, or a lot of the extra power comes from the front and it’s something as a driver that you need to get used to,” said Rowland.
“The performance of the car is a big, big step on what it was in Gen3.”
Rowland specifically pinpointed the grip that the Gen4 offers in the higher downforce mode, one of two specifically designed bodywork kits that the new model will run from next season onward.
“In the high downforce mode, it’s offering quite a lot of grip compared to what we’re used to,” said the reigning world champion.
“Obviously, there’s an element of downforce, which is not something that we’ve really had in the past, but I think also there’s lots of new things on the technical side, from the diff, the four wheel drive, obviously having much more power on the front axle now, which is quite good.”
Rowland also outlined a more comfortable experience in the car, which has a new monocoque designed and manufactured by Dallara, and one that will also use a power steering system.
“I think they’ve made a really good step on the chassis for the driver side, because the Gen3 was quite uncomfortable,” said the reigning Formula E world champion.
Unlike the majority of Formula E drivers Rowland has very little experience of power steering systems. Apart from very briefly being part of the Ginetta LMP1 project in 2018 and a few F1 tests with Williams around the same time, Rowland has driven without steering assistance.
“It’s probably one of the biggest things to get used to, the power steering, it’s not something that I’m that familiar with,” said Rowland.
“I would say that that was kind of the biggest thing, just to get used to feeling the limit and just to try and optimise the car in terms of its performance and power, and slightly different driving styles, with a lot of the power coming from the front.”
“The GEN3 car never suited me in terms of the braking, personally, so the GEN4 feels like a positive step. I think that from a qualifying perspective it may allow me to drive the car in a similar way to how I used to drive in GEN2, which is good for me.”
Rowland on Gen4 racing
Rowland, who was one of the senior drivers behind the controversial letter to the FIA President, Mohammed Ben Suleyem earlier this March, also opined on what the racing may be like in the new Gen4 era which begins later this year.
“It depends what they decide on the energy management stuff, but I think if they can keep our traditional energy saving phases and attack mode stuff, then this will still make the racing interesting and quite unpredictable, which I think a lot of people like,” he said.
“I haven’t managed to follow a car or any of that other stuff yet, but it really depends on what the FIA decide in terms of usable energy and amount of laps.”
The FIA could confirm specifics on the Gen4 sporting format and some sporting regulatory decisions at the World Motorsport Council meeting on June 23.
