Gen3 is dead. But is it a case of ‘long live Gen3?’
Not really. There is no plan to utilize its hardware, something which Formula E has never really gone with previous generations. For a sustainably conscious progressive series that has always confused people. The plain facts of the matter are that is largely cost prohibitive to recycle the cars for racing purpose down the road.
So Gen3’s final word goes to arguably its two most powerful proponents. CEO Jeff Dodds and its most successful driver, Pascal Wehrlein.
Dodds started his role in June 2023 but had been keeping tabs on the Gen3 project from afar prior to that. What he saw wasn’t pretty and as he arrived in the Jakarta paddock in June 2023 there was still a salvage operation going on.
“I wasn’t there for the birthing pain of it (Gen3) although I’m aware that it was quite considerable at the time,” recalled Dodds.
“And I guess the first thing I was able to influence was the introduction of the Evo, because it was not logical that we’d have an Evo when I arrived. But I felt pretty strongly that there was so much untapped technology.
“The opening of the front powertrain was maybe also addressing some of the slightly curious cosmetics of the original Gen3 and also introducing this pack style of racing, it was just people weren’t used to. Then I think with Gen3Evo, we diluted that down a little bit.”
The Gen3Evo certainly accelerated Formula E’s recovery away from the initial Gen3 abyss. Practically it improved the racing massively too with Dodds saying that “we had a bit of less peloton style racing, and it’s (Gen3Evo) has produced some really thrilling and competitive races. The Season 12 title fight has demonstrated just how competitive this championship has been with that car.
“So, I think it’s been a brilliant end to an era for us, and it ushers in a completely different type of race car. But I look quite fondly on the Gen 3 era.
The champion’s view
It’s easy to forget now but Pascal Wehrlein’s introduction to Gen3 back in 2022 and early 2023 was a mix of success and pain.
A huge moment at Valencia in pre-season testing scared the life out of him when he was left with no stopping capacity when he had a technical issue. The at Hyderabad his Porsche 99XElectric drove itself in to the wall and put its occupant in hospital after an issue with the car’s CAN system.
But the results were strong from the start with a clean sweep at Diriyah and a second place at Mexico City pushing him in to an early title lead. Although his title challenge faltered with a mid-season slump he was always a factor and generally had his teammate Antonio Felix da Costa, still finding his feet at Porsche, under control.
“I mean looking at the results definitely we were among the drivers and teams to beat,” Wehrlein recalled to FEN last month.
“Looking at the results, first year I finished fourth, then I won the championship, last year I finished third. I felt like every season so far we fought for the championship until the very end, almost until the very end.
“Therefore, I believe yes we were one of the strongest if not the strongest in this era for sure in terms of consistency, but that’s also the only reason where I would look back into the Gen3 era and say, “oh I would miss that”.
“It was the first time for me in Formula E where I have a championship winning package and I enjoyed it but other than that I think everyone is super excited about the new car much more now and looking forward to many things which comes with that. So, I don’t think we’ll miss anything from the Gen3 car really.
One of Wehrlein’s key strengths is leading the development phase of a new rules package. For Gen3 he was integral as da Costa only arrived at the team a few months before the first test. It was largely Wehrlein who pushed the Gen3 early on.
“I think I’m quite good at guiding the team what I need to go faster and which direction we should head,” said Wehrlein.
“And also, which directions we should explore now for the cost cap as there might be a hundred different directions. So, the feedback needs to be very precise, and you cannot shoot five times in the dark and once it is the sixth time it works, no.
“It’s more like every feedback needs to add something positive or some value to the car to go faster. And that process I enjoy, and I would say I’m very good at it, to understand a car quickly and what it needs to go faster, so yeah being there for the beginning of the Gen3 era and making the first mileage with the car was satisfying.”
