Electric SUV racing series Extreme E abandons secret winner plan

When XE was officially launched in January, its ideas included a 'docu-sport' broadcast format that meant its competitive events would not be screened live and would instead have been released in single episode form.

Autosport had previously asked how traditional media could cover XE action if there was no live broadcast element, to which series boss Alejandro Agag replied: "You're probably not going to be able to cover it live".

XE will retain its Netflix-style documentary series capturing the surrounding elements of the championship as well as the racing, but when it comes to showing each event live Agag said "We've changed our minds".

"It's a significant change," he continued to Autosport.

"We've changed our minds for two reasons - first, a lot of car manufacturers and sponsors and broadcasters have shown huge interest in having a live component.

"And we have [therefore] decided to have a live component. So, we are going to have the semi-finals and the final live.

"We will do all the other races before [but they] won't be broadcasted live.

"We will do a one hour product in which we will have two semi-finals and the final live. Therefore the result is going to be known.

"The second reason is that we were discussing internally with Fisher Stevens, the [XE] creative director, and he said, 'Listen, it doesn't affect the quality of the documentaries if we release who wins.'

"[This is] because the documentaries are not about the race - the documentaries are about the environment and the challenges that area has.

"So, we clearly distinguish a sports product and a documentary product.

"We will have the documentary and the episodes, but we will also have a live component straight from the extreme locations. So [the media] will report who will win the races."

XE is yet to reveal any broadcaster partners, but has recently confirmed that ABB FIA Formula E chassis builder Spark Racing Technology will produce its base car elements, and that Williams Advance Engineering will be its battery supplier for the first two seasons.