The idea was conceived by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag at a dinner in Paris on 3 March 2011. The series was designed to promote electric vehicle technology by racing on temporary street circuits in major city centres, giving the championship a distinctive urban character absent from most established motorsport calendars. Agag took charge of organising the series, drawing on experience in television rights, sponsorship, and marketing.
Races, known as ePrix, are held predominantly on temporary street circuits typically between 1.9 and 3.4 km in length. The championship awards points using the standard FIA system (25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1), with additional points for pole position and fastest lap. Both a Drivers' Championship and a Teams' Championship are contested each season; from Season 10, a Manufacturers' Trophy was also introduced.
Qualifying divides drivers into two groups based on championship standings. The top four from each group advance to a knockout duel format, with drivers competing head-to-head at full qualifying power to determine grid positions one through eight.
A distinctive feature called Attack Mode, introduced in Season 5, offers drivers a temporary power boost by driving through a designated off-line activation zone on the circuit. Its duration and frequency are set by the FIA shortly before each race to limit teams' strategic preparation time. Fanboost, which allowed fans to vote an extra power burst to their favourite driver, ran for the first eight seasons before being discontinued in 2023.
From Season 11, Pit Boost was introduced, requiring all drivers to make a mandatory 30-second pit stop for a 600 kW fast charge, adding approximately 3.85 kWh of energy for the remainder of the race.
The Gen1 car (Spark-Renault SRT_01E) was used for Seasons 1–4. With a Dallara chassis, Williams Advanced Engineering battery, and McLaren-supplied electric motor in the first season, it had a peak power of 250 kW. Battery limitations necessitated mid-race car swaps during this era, with each driver having two cars available per race.
The Gen2 car arrived for Season 5 in 2018–19, doubling effective battery capacity and ending mandatory car swaps. Peak power rose to 250 kW, later increased to 220 kW base race output with 250 kW Attack Mode by Season 8. The Gen2 also introduced the halo cockpit protection structure.
The Gen3 car debuted in Season 9 (2022–23). Qualifying power rose to 350 kW, with 300 kW available in races. Regenerative braking capacity reached 600 kW across both axles, and the estimated top speed climbed to 322 km/h. Spark Racing Technology supplies the chassis; Williams Advanced Engineering the battery; Hankook the all-weather tyres.
The Gen4 car, unveiled in November 2025 for Season 12, delivers 600 kW in qualifying and Attack Mode and 450 kW during races with full-time all-wheel drive — a 50 percent power increase over the Gen3. The battery provides 55 kWh usable energy and supports 700 kW regenerative charging. New features include power steering, a dedicated wet-weather tyre, and Bridgestone tyres, marking that manufacturer's return to single-seater racing since Formula One in 2009.
Nelson Piquet Jr. won the inaugural championship in the 2014–15 season, pipping Sébastien Buemi by a single point in the final London round. Buemi took the 2015–16 title by two points over Lucas di Grassi; di Grassi reversed that order to win the 2016–17 championship.
Jean-Éric Vergne won back-to-back titles in Seasons 4 and 5 (2017–18 and 2018–19), becoming the first driver to win more than one Formula E championship. António Félix da Costa claimed Season 6 (2019–20) with two races to spare. Nyck de Vries won the inaugural FIA World Championship season in 2020–21, with Mercedes-EQ taking the Teams' title. Stoffel Vandoorne and Mercedes-EQ repeated in Season 8 (2021–22).
The Gen3 era opened with Jake Dennis winning the 2022–23 Drivers' Championship for Avalanche Andretti. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) claimed Season 10 (2023–24), while Oliver Rowland (Nissan) won Season 11 (2024–25), with Porsche taking the Teams' and Manufacturers' trophies.
Formula E has attracted major automotive manufacturers as powertrain suppliers and full factory entries, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Nissan, Jaguar, DS Automobiles, Maserati, and McLaren. Manufacturer participation has fluctuated: Audi and BMW both announced withdrawals after Season 7, while Lola and Yamaha joined for Season 11. McLaren is set to leave ahead of Season 12.
Formula E has maintained an esport presence since 2019 via the Virtually Live Ghost Racing application and the Formula E: Accelerate series on rFactor 2, introduced in 2021. A documentary series, Unplugged, launched in 2021 and followed a similar behind-the-scenes format to Formula One's Drive to Survive, covering multiple seasons.
Formula E demonstrated that a credible, manufacturer-backed international motorsport series could be built around fully electric vehicles within a decade of conception. Its street-circuit model, Attack Mode innovation, and the eventual introduction of pitstop recharging have positioned it as both a sporting spectacle and a technology showcase for the global transition to electric mobility.