“We’re obviously keen to make a return to India. We love India and have a lot of Indian partners. We’re here with Mahindra who are a massive partner for us, but we also have Tata with the Jaguar team,” Dodds told HT here.
“We also have Infosys as one of our championship partners. India is a key market for us. We’d love to be back here racing in India in the future. It’s about finding the right opportunity.”
Formula E debuted in India with much fanfare in February 2023 with the Hyderabad ePrix, but the series later announced that it had cancelled the consequent race over alleged “breach of contract” by the Telangana government.
The FIA World Championship had signed a four-year deal with the previous Telangana government and promoters Ace Nxt Gen with KT Rama Rao, former IT minister in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government playing a key role in it coming to fruition.
The inaugural race was held but the second edition was cancelled with Formula E officials saying that the hosting fees were not paid on time.
The support of local authorities is vital for Formula E which, unlike racing series held on purpose-built tracks, is run on city street circuits. Problems arose when title sponsor Greenko and Ace Nxt Gen pulled out of the event and BRS then lost the assembly elections in December 2023 and Congress came to power. Discussions between Formula E and the new government did not progress.
“I have a whole team that talks to people all over the world (about hosting races) including people in India, which is one of those core places,” said Dodds, who took over as Formula E CEO in May 2023.
“We’re constantly exploring markets. Across Europe, we’re looking at multiple circuits in the US, multiple cities in China. We look at other circuits in Asia as well. The nice thing is we have strategic targets for us but we also have a lot of incoming interest from cities that are interested in sustainability and electrification. Motorsport is also a great way of bringing tourism and attracting people to the country.”
Mahindra Racing commits to Gen4
Meanwhile, Mahindra Racing — the only Indian Formula E team — announced its commitment as a manufacturer to the Gen4 era of the FIA Formula E World Championship, which commences from the 2026-27 season.
There were rumours that Mahindra could become a customer team from next season but all those doubts were put to rest with the announcement which was made at the unveiling of the team’s M12Electro — Mahindra’s Formula E car for the 2025-26 season that starts on December 6. The Gen4 era will last for four seasons, until 2030.
Gen4 cars will have 450kw of peak race power and a 600kw attack mode to enable powerful overtakes. The car also features 700kw of regenerative braking, and race energy capacity up to 55kWh to allow for bolder strategy calls.
Last season, Mahindra Racing finished fourth in the championship out of 11 teams, achieving five podiums in the process.
