Cupra: This is how Nico and Robin start in Formula E 🎥

More and more people around the world are following the innovative racing series - and now it offers even more racing spectacle. This is ensured by the 22 world-class drivers and the most significant names from the racing and automotive world - now including the ABT Cupra FE Team with drivers Robin Frijns and Nico Müller - as well as the Gen3 race cars. In Valencia, the two drivers completed their first laps in the all-electric race car, which can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h (AutoSprintCH reported).

Team faces challenges

ABT Cupra FE has two experienced Formula E drivers. In Valencia, they gained their first experience with the new Gen3 vehicle and went into fine-tuning. Robin Frijns made his Formula E debut in the 2015/16 season and won his first race in the series at the 2019 Paris E-Prix. The 31-year-old Dutchman was impressed by his first laps in the ABT Cupra FE vehicle.

Robin Frijns: "New car, new colors, new team and a new teammate - even though I've been in Formula E for a long time, almost everything is new to me. We face some challenges as a team, that's clear even after the test days, but we've already achieved a lot and are getting to know our car better and better."

Anticipation for the new season increases

Teammate Nico Müller has been active in Formula E since the 2017/18 season, initially as a test, development and reserve driver before making his racing debut in the 2019/20 series. The 30-year-old Swiss returns to the racing series after completing his last race to date at the Monaco E-Prix in 2021.

Nico Müller: "It feels really good to be back in the Formula E paddock and in the ABT Cupra FE team We have completed a respectable number of laps and the team understanding was already very good. You can say that we are growing together more and more and the anticipation for the new season is rising."

Start of a new motorsport era

In addition to the team and drivers, the main focus is on the vehicles - and this season they are smaller, lighter and faster than ever before. The most important thing in advance: All the vehicles on the grid have the same chassis and the same battery.

So unlike in Formula 1, for example, it is primarily the drivers' skills and the race strategy defined by the teams that decide the outcome of a race. What's more, the ninth season of Formula E marks the start of a new motorsport era not only for Cupra, but also for the all-electric racing series itself, because: The 2023 season will see the debut of the Gen3 race car - the fastest, lightest, most powerful and most efficient electric race car ever built.

40 percent energy from recuperation

Compared with the previously driven model, the Gen2, the new bolide represents a quantum leap in many respects. In short, it delivers higher top speeds, faster acceleration and a significant increase in regenerative capability. In the process, over 40 percent of the energy consumed during a race is recovered through regenerative braking (recuperation) - instead of only around 25 percent previously.

Narrower, shorter, flatter and also lighter

At just under 5.02 meters long, the Gen3- is 18 centimeters shorter, ten centimeters narrower at 1.70 meters wide and at least four centimeters flatter than its predecessor at a height of around 1.02 meters.

This results in significantly lower air resistance. The more compact dimensions also make the electric race car much lighter: the minimum weight including the driver will be only 840 kilograms in the coming season instead of the previous 900 kilograms.

0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds

But it's not just the lower weight and reduced air resistance that make the Gen3 faster and more agile: The electric motor's maximum output has been increased from the previous 250 kW (400 hp) to up to 350 kW (476 hp). It's no wonder, then, that the top speed will be 40 km/h higher next year, now at 320 km/h. The vehicle accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds. All this with twice the efficiency of an equivalent combustion engine.

Seasonal races in eleven metropolises on the schedule

The Gen3 and the ABT Cupra FE Team will complete its first official laps on January 14, 2023, at the start of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship 2022/23 in Mexico City. A total of 16 races are scheduled in eleven cities around the world in the coming season, including four events in Europe. The season finale will be held in London on July 29 and 30.

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