Why BMW and Audi have pulled the plug on Formula E

By:

Matt Kew

Dec 3, 2020, 4:00 PM

BMW and Audi shocked the Formula E fraternity by announcing their departures at the end of the 2020-21 season. Overnight, the championship has been dealt something of a "wake-up call" - including questions about its relevance to manufacturers

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Formula E has been dealt a hammer blow just as it's about to celebrate its new-found FIA World Championship status. Two premium automotive manufacturers that are recognised the world over, ones which are aggressively pushing electric road cars, will both exit stage left. The all-electric championship is no longer the electric championship that's right for them.

Individually, Audi and then BMW's decision to quit FE at the close of the forthcoming 2020-21 season are seismic. But together - the official announcements coming in two days of one another - it's inflicted a far bigger hit. Not a fatal one, but the championship has been knocked heavily.

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Matt Kew

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Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.