What Formula E's Gen4 car changes, and where Mahindra fits in

The short answer: Gen4 is Formula E's fourth-generation race car, it replaces the Gen3 Evo for the 2026/27 season, and it makes 450kW in normal race mode and up to 600kW in Attack Mode. Formula E puts that peak at about 804bhp and calls it a 71 per cent jump in peak power over the Gen3 Evo. It is also the first Formula E car with permanent, active all-wheel drive. The season starts with a Jeddah double-header on 18 and 19 December 2026 and runs to Tokyo on 25 July 2027, 21 races in all. Mahindra is one of the six manufacturers on the Gen4 grid, alongside Porsche, Jaguar, Stellantis, Nissan and Lola.

What actually changes on the car

The headline figures come from Formula E's own Gen4 briefing. Regeneration goes up to 700kW, so the car recovers far more energy under braking than before. The battery is 55kWh. Minimum weight is 950kg, the car is 5540mm long and 1790mm wide, and the wheelbase grows to 3080mm. Formula E quotes 0 to 100kph in roughly 1.8 seconds, 0 to 200kph in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 335kph, and says the car should lap around 10 seconds faster than the Gen3 in qualifying trim.

Bridgestone supplies two tyre specifications. The FIA says the car uses at least 20 per cent recycled materials in key components, the tyres are 65 per cent natural and recycled materials including 30 per cent certified natural rubber, and the battery uses no rare earth minerals.

Attack Mode and the energy game, in plain terms

Attack Mode is Formula E's overtaking aid, and it is not a button you simply press. The driver arms the car, leaves the racing line and drives through a marked activation zone, losing a little time to gain extra power. In the Season 12 rules the step was 50kW, from 300kW race power to 350kW. With Gen4 the gap is far bigger, from 450kW to 600kW, which is why strategy around when to take it matters more than before.

The other lever is energy. Formula E races to a time and lap target rather than a fuel tank, so drivers lift and coast, run in traffic to save energy, then spend it. In Season 12 the series also ran Pit Boost, a mandatory stop at selected races where a 600kW rig put 10 per cent of energy, 3.85kWh, into the car in 30 seconds, with the car's state of charge between 40 and 60 per cent at the time. Only three crew members were allowed to do it and each team had one rig, so no double-stacking.

The Indian angle

Mahindra Racing is the reason this matters here. The team has committed to Formula E through 2030, which covers the whole Gen4 cycle, and chose to stay a full manufacturer rather than buy a customer powertrain. Mahindra's racing chairman R Velusamy has tied that to road cars, and the Born EV logo that appears on the race car also sits on the BE 6 and the XEV 9e.

Season 12 was the team's joint best. Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara took two wins, seven podiums and five poles for 252 points and third in the Teams' World Championship, with de Vries winning in Monaco and Tokyo. Both drivers stay for Gen4, which gives Mahindra one of the most experienced pairings on a grid that has to learn a new car. Mortara starts his 10th Formula E season.

One thing Indian fans will not get is a home race. The 21-race Season 13 calendar runs through Jeddah, Mexico City, Austin, Miami, Sao Paulo, Sanya, Monaco, Berlin, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort, Madrid, Shanghai and Tokyo, with no Indian round.

Sources

• Formula E FAQs: All the GEN4 questions answered
• FIA: Unleashing GEN4, a new era of high-performance, sustainable electric racing begins
• Mahindra Racing retain Mortara and de Vries for GEN4
• ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar
• EXPLAINED: Formula E's rules and regulations for Season 12
• Autocar India: Mahindra commits to Formula E Gen4 era