Formula E to showcase every generation at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Formula E will place its past, present and future on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with all four generations of its race cars set to run at the historic Goodwood Estate from Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12.

The all-electric championship is using the four-day event as a major platform for its evolving technology story, with full-time drivers, reserves and development figures rotating through machinery ranging from the original Gen1 car to the forthcoming Gen4 concept.

Four generations on the Goodwood hill

A headline moment of the weekend will be the side-by-side presence of every Formula E era. Thursday’s programme features recent Shanghai E-Prix winner Lucas di Grassi back in the Gen1 machine, reconnecting him with a car central to his championship history. For more on his latest Formula E success, read our report on Lucas di Grassi’s Shanghai E-Prix comeback victory.

James Rossiter will drive the DS Techeetah Gen2 from Season 5, while Chloe Chambers is scheduled in Mahindra’s Gen3. Dan Ticktum will take the Gen4 machine up the hill, with Fernando Barrichello also due to run Jaguar’s Gen4-liveried car on Thursday.

Friday brings another shift in the line-up. Sam Bird, now listed as a Nissan reserve and TV pundit, will drive the Gen1 car, while Jean-Éric Vergne returns to his championship-winning Gen2 machinery after his Shanghai E-Prix podium weekend. Chambers, Barrichello and Ticktum remain in action across the remaining entries.

Driver rotation adds depth to the showcase

Mahindra’s weekend plan includes ART Formula 2 racer Kush Maini, who will take over the Gen3 car on Saturday and Sunday. Rossiter is also set to return to the DS Techeetah Gen2. Jaguar’s Gen4 machine is not listed later in the schedule, while Bird and Ticktum continue in their respective roles through the weekend.

The wider driver roster gives Formula E a strong mix of established names, development drivers and junior-series talent. Ticktum carries home interest, while Vergne and Bird bring championship-level credibility to the demonstrations.

Why Goodwood matters for Formula E

Formula E’s Gen4 messaging is central to the appearance. The new car is described as delivering up to 600 kW in attack mode, up to 700 kW of regenerative braking, and both high- and low-downforce aerodynamic modes.

The championship has already used high-profile demonstrations to build visibility around Gen4, including David Coulthard’s Monaco show lap, where the car’s performance caught out the former Formula 1 racer. Drivers including Gabriel Bortoleto, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg were present that weekend and reflected positively on Formula E’s future.

With more than 150,000 fans expected across the event and teams activating on site, Goodwood gives Formula E a valuable shop window: not simply to display speed, but to show how dramatically its machinery has evolved over the past decade.