Formula E Gen4 to make public debut at Goodwood with Dan Ticktum

Formula E prepares Gen4 public debut

Formula E will give its new Gen4 car a first public outing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 9-12, with Cupra Kiro driver Dan Ticktum lined up to demonstrate the car’s much-trailed performance on the hill.

Slick tyres raise expectations

The Race has learned that, unlike the racing version of the Gen4 car due next season, the Goodwood demonstrator will run on slick tyres. That detail matters, because it suggests Formula E is interested in showing more than a gentle parade run, even if it has not publicly committed to a record attempt.

Formula E is being cautious about whether it will pursue an outright time close to the official hill record, set by Max Chilton in the all-electric McMurtry Speirling in 2021. Chilton’s 39.08s over the 1.16-mile hillclimb beat the long-standing 41.6s benchmark set by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car in 1999.

The Gen4 car is not yet fully developed, but with slick tyres it could feasibly get close to Chilton’s time. However, Formula E is not believed to be targeting the record directly. Instead, the approach is expected to be run-by-run: assess what the car can do, demonstrate its torque and acceleration, and avoid making the outing purely about the stopwatch.

Ticktum: ‘ready to fly up the hill’

Ticktum described Goodwood as “the perfect place to show the fastest single-seater Formula E has ever built.” He added: “The Gen4 is 50% more powerful in race mode than the current cars, handles like an absolute weapon with that permanent all-wheel drive, and it’s ready to fly up the hill. It’s going to be wild.”

Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds called Goodwood “the perfect stage to give the public its first up close look at the Gen4 car in action.” He added: “This isn’t just an incremental step forward, the Gen4 represents a massive performance leap in Formula E history.”

Manufacturers continue private work

Formula E previously showcased the evolution from Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3 during a private demonstration at Paul Ricard in April, where official Gen4 test driver James Rossiter did most of the driving while manufacturers continued reliability running.

The focus has now shifted toward performance running, with Jaguar, Stellantis, Nissan, Porsche and Lola completing test days recently. Mahindra has faced delays linked to supplier issues for its test car, though a shakedown is expected later this month.

Homologation for Gen4 manufacturer cars is scheduled to begin from the end of September, with the traditional pre-season test pencilled in for Jarama in mid-November. Jaguar and Mahindra are also expected at Goodwood, although only Jaguar is set to run its Gen4 car, recently seen in private testing at Navarra in Spain.