The hurdles facing Formula E in London

Formula E has finally gone public on its plans to host the London round of the inaugural championship in Battersea Park next summer.

The announcement was made at what was billed as the global launch of the series in London this week, but the race scheduled for June 27, 2015 remains far from certain.

The 200-acre Thames-side park in the London Borough of Wandsworth was announced by Formula E founder Alejandro Agag as the "chosen location" for the London fixture. His carefully worded statement about the plans, which were exclusively revealed by AUTOSPORT in March, was couched with words such as "hope" and "would".

Agag has revealed to AUTOSPORT that the idea of Battersea Park hosting the championship finale next June remains a work in progress. The event has been in the evaluation stage for some time, but the series organiser will only now begin the consultation with the local community necessary ahead of any planning application.

"We have to engage with the stakeholders, which we haven't done yet, residents and the Friends of Battersea Park [a local pressure group]," he says. "We hope that they will embrace this concept."

The local council in Wandsworth confirmed it has been approached and is interested in the idea, but that no final decision has been made.

London last hosted motorsport at Crystal Palace. Here's Ronnie Peterson leading Derek Bell in European Formula 2's London Trophy in 1970 © LAT

"We need to look at it very carefully and first of all speak to amenity groups and local residents," says a spokesman from the council. "We haven't spoken to all the people we need to listen to, which is why we are not in a position to say yes or no at this stage."

The race, which would bring motor racing back to the UK capital for the first time since the closure of Crystal Palace in 1972, could face opposition from the local community because it would place restrictions on the use of the park.

Although fixtures for the Formula E one-make electric-vehicle series are one-day events, the build-up before and clear-up after would likely result in parts of the park being out of bounds for several weeks.

The creation of a circuit using existing roads in the park, as well as the building of grandstands and hospitality areas, would require planning permission even though they would be only temporary structures. This could prove problematic in a historic park dating back to the 19th century where many of the trees will be governed by preservation orders.

Agag suggests that the network of roads within Battersea Park would make for a perfect racetrack. He says the existing roads would "not have to be touched at all" to create an FIA Grade 3 track measuring somewhere between 1.55 and 1.86 miles, the target length for Formula E circuits.

"Someone, when they designed Battersea Park nearly 200 years ago, came up with a racetrack," he says. "It is perfect, and it would be a shame not to do it there."

It is understood that there are points of the still-secret circuit design that would be narrower than the limits prescribed by FIA rules. This is not an insurmountable problem because there are such 'pinch points' at circuits such as Macau, Pau and Porto that are governed by no-overtaking yellow flags.

Should the Battersea plan fail, there are back-up plans for the London fixture, according to both Agag and the deputy Mayor of London Sir Edward Lister, who was present at the launch on Monday.

"There are always plan Bs and plan Cs in mind," says Lister, who has reiterated Mayor of London Boris Johnson's support of a London Formula E fixture.

Agag is confident Battersea will happen

"There are alternatives. I hope it will happen in Battersea Park; Formula E has set its stall on that, but my main concern is that it happens in London."

One back-up plan is believed to be a track involving access roads and car-parking space around the O2 Arena, formerly the Millennium Dome, in Greenwich.

Other venues, including the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, have been explored and discounted, while there are no plans to host the event on closed public roads because this would require a time-consuming Act of Parliament to suspend the Road Traffic Act.

Agag refuses to discuss any back-up options.

"I prefer not to at the moment," he says. "We are focusing on this one for the moment. Formula E will happen in London and I am very confident that it will happen in Battersea."

FORMULA E'S MULTI-MAKE FUTURE

Agag has reiterated his intent that the series will become a proving-ground for electric-vehicle technology populated by major car manufacturers.

Renault, which was already billed as a technical partner in what will begin as a one-make control formula, has announced a sponsorship deal with the French e.dams team.

The technical partnership was described as co-ordinating role between McLaren and Williams, which respectively produce the drivetrains and batteries for the Spark-Renault SRT_01E single-seaters, but Renault Sport boss Patrice Ratti say that the new deal was about "preparing for the future... for when the championship opens up".

Formula E has mapped out an evolution of the series that will allow manufacturers to incorporate their own technology into the Dallara-built SRT_01E.

Agag stresses that there are no plans to allow free chassis in the short term: "This is not an aerodynamic competition, it is a powertrain competition."

Renault has got behind Formula E in a big way

Details have yet to be made public, but the 200kW powertrains built by McLaren Electronic Systems will not be mandated in season two. The plan is to then open up battery supply for season three.

The aim in year two will be to increasing the amount of energy retrieval, according to Formula E sporting manager Benoit Dupont.

"Energy-retrieval is be totally free and one of the key things for the driver is to learn how to make the most of re-gen," he says. "The focus in year two will be on re-generation, but still using the Williams battery."

Agag believes that there could be as many as three powertrains in use in 2015/16.

"McLaren should still be in the mix and we should have Renault, while Mahindra is an obvious candidate," he says.

Indian car maker Mahindra has joined the championship to both develop and showcase EV technology in competition.

"We see it as a two-way street," says Mahindra Racing team principal Dilbagh Gill. "We recently showed our Halo sportscar concept and we want to take what we learn in racing back to that."

Agag says that future targets for Formula E include increasing battery capacity and the amount of energy-retrieval so that the cars can potentially complete a one-hour race. Don't forget that when the series kicks off in September drivers will be changing cars in the races.