Season Five of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship is set to commence this Saturday on 15 December.

Fans across the world will see 22 new Gen2 car, new tracks, new rules and new drivers added to the championship.

DS TECHETAH drivers André Lotterer and the reigning Formula E Champion, Jean-Éric Vergne returns to field the DS E-TENSE FE19 Gen2 car for the season ahead. They will start the season by tackling the new 2,5km street circuit of Ad Diriyah where they will be challenged with the new 45min plus one lap race format.

Formula E’s unique fan engagement, FanBoost, is set to return with updated regulations and we will now see the Top 5 drivers gain the boost voted for by the fans, that’s another two drivers gaining the energy boost on track compared the previous seasons. Fans will now also be able to vote 15 minutes into the race, further adding to the thrill of being directly involved in the championship.

The DS E-TENSE FE19 is built entirely in-house by DS Automobiles in the team’s new factory in Versailles just outside of Paris. DS Automobiles has also developed its own brake-by-wire system and is one of the few manufacturer in the paddock to have done so to gain a further competitive advantage. The new DS E-TENSE FE19 has a maximum power of 338hp and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8s. It also has a larger battery capacity of 52 kWh that will last the whole race, thus eliminating the car swap.

As the championship continues to innovate, the introduction of ATTACK MODE is going to throw further challenges to the grid and bring the excitement of the series further.

When enable, the new feature temporarily increases the power level from 200 kW (in race mode) to 225 kW, which gives the drivers an advantage over the others, for a short time, to overtake, opening new strategic opportunities and delivering more dynamic races .

To be able to go into the ATTACK MODE, the driver must go through an activation zone, located outside of the race line. The number of activation and the period of use will be determined at each race by the FIA.

Jean-Éric Vergne #25: “For someone who’s been with the series since pretty much the start, I’ve personally seen how Formula E has taken big strides – not only with the performance of the car, but by implementing new ideas that continue to promote close racing such as ATTACK MODE. As drivers we want to be able to race hard and the fans want that too.”

André Lotterer #36: “Formula E has taken a huge leap forward in the last year and it’s very exciting to be part of a series that keep on reinventing itself like Formula E does. We’ve done all the prep work for the new additions to the series and the wait is finally over, we’re going racing now. It will be very interesting to see how the first race pans out as there will be some surprises, that’s certain.”