Audi and BMW to both leave Formula E—here’s why that’s OK

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  When Audi revealed its FE07 race car last week, it didn't tell us it would be the company's last Formula E car. [credit: Audi ]

Formula E probably hoped that its preseason test would be the cause of many headlines this week. Ahead of the electric racing series' seventh season start in Chile in January, 12 teams gathered at a race track in Valencia, Spain, to run their new cars in earnest for the first time. Instead, it was the sudden announcement that both Audi and then BMW will make season seven their last that got most of the attention.

Predictably, the sport's detractors have been quick to seize on this as evidence that electricity and racing cars just don't go together. Here's why I think they're wrong.

Racing to make better road cars

When Audi unveiled its FE07 last week, the team held a virtual tech talk showing off its new Formula E powertrain. Called the MGU05, it's a compact package of carbon fiber and metal that makes the series-mandated 250kW (335hp) with 97 percent efficiency and an overall mass of just 77lbs (35kg). For the first time since Audi entered the sport officially in season four, it developed the powertrain completely in-house, an experience that Stefan Aicher, head of development e-Drive at Audi Sport, said was "one of the most intensive and challenging projects ever."

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