Just 4 litres of fuel for a race: Porsche Formula E boss explains remarkable efficiency

Just 38.5 kWh - roughly equivalent to the energy contained in four litres of petrol - is enough for a Gen3 Evo Formula E car to complete an entire race. Porsche's Formula E director Florian Modlinger explains why he believes the championship's remarkable efficiency receives far too little attention and how Gen4 will take the technology another major step forward.

Formula E's energy efficiency is one of the championship's most underrated qualities, according to Florian Modlinger. Speaking to e-Formula.news, Porsche's Formula E project lead and team principal of the works team explained why the relationship between energy consumption and race duration continues to impress him.

"What is simply impressive from a technical point of view is how little energy there is in a Formula E car at the start," Modlinger says. "We are talking about 38.5 kilowatt-hours. That's roughly four litres of fuel."

He illustrates the scale of that figure with a comparison to Formula 1. "If I sent an F1 car out with four litres of fuel, we would be talking about the same amount of energy. In Formula E, we race for 50 to 52 minutes in Monaco. Everyone can work out for themselves how far a Formula 1 car would get with four litres of fuel."

Modlinger: Formula E efficiency deserves more attention

"This overall vehicle efficiency - how long we can race with such a small amount of energy - is something that, in my opinion, should be communicated much more widely," Modlinger says.

The comparison underlines how efficiently an electric race car converts the energy stored on board into forward motion. A significant proportion of the kinetic energy released under braking is also recovered through regenerative braking and then reused for propulsion.

For Gen4, the amount of race energy available increases to as much as 51.25 kWh. At the same time, both power output and regenerative capacity rise significantly, while the car also gains permanent all-wheel drive.

Gen4 takes performance and regeneration to a new level

"The technical product is enormously capable considering the cost cap," Modlinger says. "We are talking about the equivalent of almost 820 horsepower, a significantly higher level of downforce, permanent all-wheel drive with active differentials on the front and rear axles, as well as regenerative braking of up to 700 kW. The technical product is extremely strong. That definitely won't be where it fails."

The first proper indication of the new Formula E car's performance will come during pre-season testing at Circuito del Jarama near Madrid in just under four weeks. The season opener is scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 18 December.