Last week Formula E teased next season’s aerodynamic updates to the Spark SRT05e chassis, dubbed the “Gen 2 Evo” design. Tuesday morning we finally got a look at the updated design and all it entails. There are a few moves here that make Formula E’s design a bit less spaceship than it currently is, while making the car slightly less robust to discourage drivers from playing bumper cars at the E-Prix.
For one thing, the updated design has opened the wheels back up, making Formula E a proper open wheel series again. The protected wheels have meant drivers are more willing to have wheel-to-wheel contact with other drivers and there is very little repercussion. This new design will make that low-percentage move a little dicier a proposition.
Both the front and rear wings have been updated with a distinctive wrap around curve. The wing end plates at the front are no longer connected to the sidepod with a wheel shroud, obviously. Presumably this will make them easier to damage or rip off entirely. At the back there is a similar change, as the rear wing no longer connects to a centre support, giving the back of the Gen 2 Evo a bit of a Ferrari FXX-K look.
The other major change here is the new shark fin sprouting out of the back of the driver’s roll hoop. First showing up on Le Mans cars before being adapted to Formula One and trickling down to pretty much every racing series since, the shark fin is said to increase a car’s stability through a corner, as well as keep the car planted in a spin. Surely this design has both effects in Formula E.
Here’s hoping the new car is even quicker than the one through the end of the 2019-20 season. Gen 2 Evo will make its E-Prix debut at the end of the 2020 calendar year.
And as a reminder, here is what the current car looks like.