Porsche Formula E Gen3 test, Weissach, 2022

Porsche completes first track test of Gen3 Formula E car

Formula E

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Porsche confirmed it has completed a roll-out of its Gen3 Formula E car, making it the first of the series’ manufacturers to commence its testing programme.

The team’s driver Pascal Wehrlein took to the manufacturer’s private test track facility in Weissach, Germany.

The Gen3 car was unveiled in Monaco in April. At the time, none of the teams had been able to test a car or had access to a chassis to fit their powertrain to. The only driver to have run the car being was Benoit Treluyer, the test driver for chassis supplier Spark.

Wehrlein, who took Porsche’s first Formula E victory in Mexico this year, is the first current driver to comment on the new car. He confirmed the team had not used full power from the car during the initial shakedown.

“That was a very interesting day and a great experience to drive our new Gen3 car for the first time,” said Wehrlein. “It felt wonderful and I’m excited to test it at full power soon.

“My initial impressions today were also very good and it made me hungry for more.”

Florian Modlinger, Porsche’s director of factory motorsport for Formula E, said that running the first laps represented a significant step in the development process. “It was a lot of work technologically and operationally to get our new car out on the track for season nine and to drive the first kilometres,” he said.

“We’re now looking forward to the next few days and weeks and to making further progress with the car. We’ll work on better aligning the systems and then on the car’s performance.”

Pre-season testing for the 2023 Formula E season, the first for the Gen3 machines, is scheduled to begin in October, meaning manufacturers face a tight deadline to complete the new cars. Porsche’s powertrain will also be used by the Andretti team next year, and the factory team is expected to use all available private testing days for development before the collective test.

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Pictures: Porsche’s Gen3 Formula E test

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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10 comments on “Porsche completes first track test of Gen3 Formula E car”

  1. The car looks good and has proper power for the first time.

    Excited for this new season! Hope they manage to get a race in Brazil so that I can check it out.

    1. I haven’t grown on that desing at all.. maybe a bit but in some angles it still looks like a lego set where pieces doesn’t quite match together

      1. Yeah, the more I see of it in different angles, the less appealing it looks.

    2. “the car looks good”?!?!?!? It looks like an ugly insect. It’s closer to looking disgusting than to looking good.

    3. I like it in black, simply because of it’s ‘stealth aircraft’ vibe. However I’ll reserve final judgement until I see other liveries.

  2. It’s sad because the current gen looks good and “futuristic”. This one looks like a car from a non-licensed F1 game.

    Whoever thought of that shape better have a really, really good argument for it. Because it’s hard to imagine a worse design…

  3. Honest question: is there any aerodynamic value/downforce to be expected from those „wings“ und (under-)body as a whole?

    There seems to be no angle of attack whatsoever.

    Especially the front wing’s elements are just flat… Looks a bit like an IKEA shelf gone bad.

  4. Whilst polarising, I do actually love the look of the car: It is small, boxy with a stealth fighter jet vibe, and most important of all… it looks nimble, racy, and unlike any other formula car! Monaco should be a treat with those fighter jets.

    Having said that, I hope Porsche comes up with a more inspiring livery than their current Formula e car. Their graphic designers can make plenty of use of those wedge shapes and angled surfaces to create stellar visual effects.

  5. Car is smaller than a F3!
    Should be agile & fast, i bet people are going to forget about the aesthetics as soon as it hits the track.§
    Having said that, the car looks much better on track than in those studio shots!

  6. The smaller size is going to be key with these new cars, should create really nice battles.

    F1 cars now look absolutely ridiculous compared with the 90s, early 2000 cars.

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