Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds is confident of keeping the current seven manufacturers for the Gen4 era. In an interview for Soy Motor, the Briton revealed that they are in talks with other brands, coming from China and the United States, which could arrive in the electric category by 2027.
Formula E currently has six manufacturers, which will be seven next year with the arrival of Lola for the two years with the Gen3 Evo.
Although there is a window until June 30 to register for the Gen4 era, Nissan and Jaguar have already reaffirmed their commitment to the electric category. In addition, Dodds reports that they are quite optimistic about the continuity of the other five and perhaps they could have some new ones.
“The window to sign up is open until June 30. We are delighted that Nissan wanted to announce their continuity so early by having a race in Tokyo. They registered earlier than we thought. I’m quite optimistic that we will have registrations from all or most of the current manufacturers,” Dodds told Soy Motor in Misano.
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Possible Additions
Dodds detailed that they are in talks with other manufacturers. “We may have entries from someone who is not yet entered in the Championship. If you look at other categories, the WEC has nine brands, we have seven, Formula 1, Nascar three, IndyCar two. We are happy with seven.
On the other hand, Formula E rules out the idea of having 11 manufacturers, one per team, in the short term and almost also for the Gen4 era. The record so far is ten, in the sixth and seventh seasons, when there were 12 registered teams. Now with seven, they see themselves in the right window both commercially and athletically.
Dodds said that from a commercial point of view, it is important to put the manufacturers into two teams, a factory team and a customer team, so that they are able to share technology between them.
“For me, the window is probably between five and eight manufacturers. If we had 11 it would be incredible fun, but for the Gen4 era I see it very unlikely, maybe it can change in the future,” concluded the Formula E boss.
