How FE went from mess to global gamechanger

Even in its mid-2000s car-manufacturer pomp, Formula 1 has had nothing compared to what Formula E is enjoying now. Its nine-strong manufacturer entry already has impressive names - Renault, Audi, BMW, Jaguar and DS join a quartet of electric-vehicle specialist/emerging brands at present.

You are unlikely to have missed the news that Mercedes is axing its DTM programme to join Formula E in 2019. Porsche will quit the LMP1 division of the World Endurance Championship at the end of this season to do the same.

Then there's the prospect of a Fiat-Chrysler entry, although that's more likely to be with a brand like Maserati than Ferrari. All that's missing is a Japanese manufacturer, although Honda has sniffed around in the past and Nissan could be on its way into the series as a replacement for alliance partner Renault.

It's very easy to strike off Formula E's rapid attraction of major manufacturers as a case of 'it's cheap and sends the right message'. They are obviously two key factors. But this is a series that was written off before it started by many critics, and almost collapsed in its first year. Now, a works Formula E programme has become a must-have for traditional motorsport manufacturers.

The growth is not just impressive, it's astounding. It's only two years since the category was finishing its first season. That inaugural campaign was contested by totally spec cars and no works teams. Circuits were being finished last-minute, and at least one race came extremely close to being cancelled on the day. A total of 35 drivers took part thanks to a series of one-off deals and constant replacements. The quality ex-F1 drivers and young hopefuls who missed their chance was offset by underprepared ringers and no-hopers.

Away from the track, the series' financial health was poor. Paddock rumour has long suggested that FE's entire first-season budget - believed to be north of €100million - was pretty much gone by Christmas.

Private investment kept the mess together until two key turning points in early-2015: the February announcement of a race in Moscow and the news, one month later, that Liberty Global - sister company to new Formula 1 owner Liberty Media - and Discovery Communications had bought a significant, though not majority, part of Formula E's shareholding. Without those short- and longer-term investments, it's thought highly likely that FE would not have made it to the end of its first season.

A changing world and an international scandal created the perfect climate for an electric boom. No other series was in a position to benefit but FE

The championship, guided by Alejandro Agag, without whom it would have folded like a deck of cards, was handed a second chance it has taken full advantage of. Financially it has some way to go: Companies House figures show FE's active UK company has a deficit of €107m and is propped up by a €133m loan from the Hong Kong-based parent operation, although it is reducing year-on-year losses and increasing its revenue.

More importantly, it has attracted manufacturers - a heap of them - much earlier than planned. And circumstances have conspired somewhat to help it thrive.

Climate change is the biggest threat to the world as we know it and governments and car companies must be seen to be recognising that. It doesn't matter how honestly they hold the belief that they have a duty to the world to find a more sustainable form of mobility, all they need is to have this commitment to the 'electrification of the automotive industry'.

The problem is, the perception and awareness of electric vehicles is still universally quite poor. Governments and car companies have a key role to play in changing that and racing has always been a cool form of publicity - so what better way to get some positive EV PR than hosting races in city centres?

Governments have bought into that with FE, and that's put the car companies' products at the heart of where they will be used, in front of a captive audience. This in turn benefits FE's own exposure, given that motorsport has a nasty habit of being very difficult to find.

The upshot is that races are now extremely unlikely to happen in city centres if they are not contested by electric vehicles, and boards are extremely unlikely to sign off a multi-million-pound investment in a racing programme if it is not with electric vehicles.

All this has been fast-tracked by the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2015, which rapidly accelerated car manufacturers' plans to develop electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Without that, it could have been several seasons before the likes of Porsche or Mercedes had even looked at FE properly, if they ever did. But the changing world, boosted by the catalyst of an international scandal, created the perfect climate for an electric boom. And no other series was in position to benefit but FE.

Agag and his team have the world's first international electric championship and, crucially, an exclusivity deal on an electric single-seater series endorsed by the FIA. That has been key to getting cities to commit to FE, whether that's by paying for the privilege of the race or by being supportive when FE has targeted a must-have venue (and taken a financial hit to make it happen).

On the car manufacturers' side, FE has played a blinder by sticking to its guns over spec chassis and not allowing aerodynamic freedom. The focus for car companies is on the EV powertrain and that's the only area teams in FE can develop. F1's turbo-hybrid engines and the WEC's incredibly complex hybrid systems are far superior pieces of technology to FE powertrains. At the moment, all a manufacturer can do in FE is control the motor, gearbox and inverter - as well as the cooling system.

What that means is budgets are very, very small. Especially compared to F1 and WEC. At the start of 2015/16 some teams were concerned that Renault had allegedly pumped more than €10m into its inaugural powertrain. Suggest that such a figure was a gamechanger in terms of investment and you would be laughed out of the other two paddocks...

The budgets have already risen since then and it would not be surprising if half the grid is investing €20m or more for next season. When Mercedes and Porsche come in, they will surely commit as much as is needed for success. It's certainly justifiable in the context of even the cheapest F1 budgets pushing €100m. Plus, because the areas of development are limited, FE has a more natural cost cap than other categories.

That blend of affordable racing and a commitment to keep costs down is extremely enticing and heads off one of the key problems FE will face as a series laden with manufacturers.

There is a massive amount of scope to increase FE's technological battleground in the future, though - not least with the battery, which is currently closed off but expected to be opened up for self-made efforts in the next few years. That is the primary area for development costs to ramp up, and it can't be a coincidence that Porsche is joining with a works entry after failing to win the control battery supply tender.

Very few people would not have been an FE sceptic in the beginning, but it has validated electric motorsport

When that warzone becomes more fraught, and more expensive, then it gets very interesting to see who sticks around when the big manufacturers start losing. But it's important to recognise that FE isn't yet the high-performance test-bed for extensive new EV technology that you might assume.

That begs more questions: why are manufacturers flocking to FE now, when they will be spending considerably more money on their own independent research-and-development anyway? Why not wait until there's freedom to go crazy with high-range, high-efficiency batteries? Or four-wheel drive, torque vectoring and energy harvesting from both axles? Surely these are the road-relevant parts of EV technology that manufacturers can benefit from by competing in FE?

An early commitment does two things. It shows the manufacturers are reacting to the aforementioned changes in the automotive industry. Look how important it was for Audi to stress it was the first German manufacturer to fully commit to FE. It narrowly beat BMW, Mercedes and Porsche to the punch. Even though BMW has a technical alliance with Andretti and Mercedes announced last year it had an option to enter FE, it didn't matter. The kudos was in committing first.

Secondly, it allows the manufacturer to assimilate, know the demands of the championship, where the technical freedom lies and how best to execute its product. That's the value in the series as a test-bed. And that improves their chances of success when the team hits the grid, because they will have time to prepare and get it right. React in haste and the chance of failure increases. Being comprehensively defeated by a host of other manufacturers would look terrible when you're in the series to promote the quality of your EV.

This is only going to be more of an issue as the series grows, and the indication is Liberty is willing to invest more to aid the series' fight to win over more and more people. Take the Autosport.com readership as an example. We know that MotoGP and F1 dwarf FE for general interest, but FE has established itself as an immediate contender to the likes of WEC and IndyCar. It enjoys strong peaks, too, and the following is growing. As you would expect from a fledgling category that's generating more and more significant news as it gets older.

Right now, though, it's fair to say there aren't many people paying attention. So, linking that to the point about image, Jaguar's pretty rubbish first season in FE is going to fly under the radar of most people. It finished last of the 10 teams on its much-vaunted return to major international motorsport, and was defeated by small (by comparison) brands like Venturi, Faraday Future and NextEV, as well as the independent (for argument's sake) Andretti.

The bigwigs may feel like the squad still underdelivered despite being the first new team in FE's three-year history, and by consequence being hugely underprepared. But that's not going to matter in a few months, even if it results in a few personnel changes. Jaguar's baptism is finished now.

It has had plenty of time to properly plan and develop an all-singing, all-dancing powertrain in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering for 2017/18. If you compare how it started the season - I make no apologies for suggesting it was the worst team on the grid after two races - then operationally it has come on leaps and bounds this year. A car that looked nowhere near scoring points at the start of the season ended the year with points hauls from six of the last nine races. That means this season has been hugely beneficial, so the short-term pain has been worthwhile.

It also means that when other big manufacturers join in and more eyes are on FE, Jaguar will be in position to show what it's really capable of. And that is very important. That's why BMW's got its technical partnership with Andretti, even though it isn't entering as a fully-fledged works team until 2018/19.

It's why Audi partnered with Abt for 2015/16 and has been slowly increasing its involvement since, ahead of a factory effort in 2017/18. It's why Mercedes' favoured racing operation (and longtime DTM team) HWA could enter the 2018/19 FE season as an independent team, so it can learn the ropes ahead of running the factory effort the following season.

Very few people would not have been an FE sceptic in the beginning, but it has validated electric motorsport. The racing is good, the audience is growing, the drivers are quality and, crucially, the manufacturers are getting involved in spades. The last point is often considered the holy grail of motorsport, and while a series does not, or should not, need to rely on works teams to be sustainable, they are what make more people care.

Balancing a grid filled with some of the automotive world's biggest names is going to be a very big challenge for a series still finding its feet in some areas. But that will be a welcome problem for Agag and co to have. And they are making genuine moves towards profitability, something fresh Liberty investment will undoubtedly aid, which is a far cry from the situation two and a half years ago.

Back then FE probably had more critics than pounds in the bank. It still attracts doubters, and still has challenges to meet, but those who continue to stand their ground in the face of motorsport's changing landscape are likely to be made to look foolish in the next few years.