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Formula E Korea E-Prix 2020 Press Conference

  • Wednesday, July 10, 2019, 9:09 pm
  • ACROFAN=Yong-Man Kwon
  • yongman.kwon@acrofan.com
Formula E Korea held a press conference on 'ABB FIA Formula E Championship Seoul E-Prix 2020' at Shilla Hotel, Jung-gu, Seoul on July 2 to introduce the event and the future schedule of domestic events. At the conference, it was announced that the 10th round race of the 6th season of 'ABB FIA Formula E Championship' will be held on May 3, 2020 in Seoul Jamsil Sports Complex.

The 10th round race of the 6th season will be held on May 3, 2020 in Seoul Jamsil Sports Complex. Especially, from April 25th to May 5th, during the holidays of major Asian countries such as China’s Labor Day and Japan's Golden Week, the Seoul International Festival will be also held together to make the event the venue of the racing festival where people can enjoy various entertainment at the same time. In addition, it is expected that the economic effect of 'ABB FIA Formula E Championship' in Korea and other additional events will be more than KRW 400 billion.

‘ABB Formula E Championship’ is an electric car racing championship that uses motor power consisting of purely electric energy. Unlike other motorsports series, it is characterized by its low noise and pollution so that it can be eco-friendly run on public roads in urban centers instead of in private racing tracks. It has been held annually since its first race in Beijing in September 2014, and it is the 6th season in 2020. In this season, 14 races will be held on 4 continents and 12 cities around the world. The participating companies have expanded to 11 companies including Audi, Jaguar, Nissan, DS, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

▲ There was a ceremony for the successful hosting of ABB Formula E Championship Seoul.

▲ Hee-Beom Lee, Operation Director of Seoul E-Prix 2020

Hee-Beom Lee, Operation Director of Seoul E-Prix 2020, introduced that the positive effects of holding the championship could be securing growth engines and creating jobs since Korea leads the electric car market, considered as one of future growth engines. Moreover, he highlighted that electric vehicles are one of the best ways to cope with fine dust and climate change, and it is the trend of the era that the transportation part, which accounts for a large part of the fine dust generation, is replaced by an electric car. Also, May 3, the day of the championship event, will be the golden holiday period, including Golden Week in Japan and Labor Day in China, and by hosting the international festival during that period, it will be the venue of racing festival where various entertainments can be enjoyed at the same time.

Formula E is an electric vehicle street racing championship, characterized by the fact that it can be run on public roads in urban centers rather than in private racing tracks. In September 2014, the first race was held in Beijing, China. Beijing had a special significance as it accounts for 45% of the amount of fine dust coming from the transportation section and it fits the concept of Formula E, which is an electric vehicle street racing championship. Five seasons have been held so far, and the sixth season will run from November 2019 to July 2020, with a total of 14 races on four continents and 12 cities around the world.

Meanwhile, the 2019-2020 season will start in Saudi Arabia, then go through Chile, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, Italy and France, then race in Korea, then back to Berlin and finish in New York and London. Although there is a burden on the way of traveling between Europe and Korea ahead of the championship in Korea, the schedule took into account the importance of the Korean market and the holiday season of major Asian countries. In addition, from April 25th to May 5th, the Seoul International Festival will be held together to create a venue for racing festivities where various entertainment can be enjoyed at the same time.

▲ Overview of 'ABB FIA Formula E Championship' in Seoul

▲ Formula E, an electric vehicle street racing competition, can also be a turning point in the perception of electric cars.

The Seoul championship, which will be the 10th round of the sixth season of ‘ABB FIA Formula E Championship’, will be held on May 3, 2020, on a track in the Jamsil Sports Complex. In addition, from April 25th to May 5th, before and after the championship, the Seoul International Festival will be held together to make it a venue for festivals where various entertainment and races can be enjoyed together. During the championship, the concerts of K-POP stars are scheduled every day, and international exhibitions and seminars for electric cars, electric bicycles and electric boat competitions will be also held to show the boom of electric vehicles.

Formula E championship is also an opportunity to call attention to the transition to an electric car, which is considered as a new growth engine in the future. Globally, the electric car market is rapidly growing and the electric car industry development policies of each country are actively implemented. At the same time, various environmental problems, such as fine dust and climate change, are being addressed, and the transition to electric cars has been proposed as a way to overcome them. On top of that, in battery technology, which is considered to be the core of electric cars, Korea, China and Japan account for 83.5% of the global market, and the electric car battery market is expected to become more important than the semiconductor market.

In addition, the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Korea next year is expected to bring the economic effects of over KRW 400 billion. When the competition and the festival come together, they will generate many economic ripple effects, including KRW 208.2 billion worth of production, KRW 111.4 billion worth of added value. The economic effects generated by K-POP concerts and tourism consumption expenditure are estimated to have up to KRW 199 billion worth of production and 91.7 billion worth of added value. If they are combined, the production inducement effect will be at least KRW 210 billion, up to KRW 407.2 billion, and the added value inducement effect will be at least KRW 102 billion to maximum KRW 203.2 billion and the employment inducement effect will be at least 1,474 to 2,843.

▲ Alejandro Agag, Chairman and CEO of Formula E

▲ The track at Jamsil Sports Complex reflects the characteristic of Formula E race.

Alejandro Agag, Chairman and CEO of Formula E, said that Formula E now can be found all over the world, and it has grown into a motor sport for everyone, collecting many championships, sponsors and fans. And the mission of Formula E is to make our world a better place through simple and different kinds of mobility. The effects that can be gained through Formula E race can be the opportunity to develop the technology to change the age, and the presentation of the motivation to change the perception of the electric car.

First, in terms of changing the perception of electric cars, the championship will be an opportunity to change a general perception that electric cars are not enough for everyday use. In terms of technology development, Formula E's 'Gen2' machines have doubled battery storage capacity over previous generations and have applied a variety of technological advances, including faster travel and longer mileage. And for electric cars, the emergence of new battery technology will greatly change lives, and Korea hopes that it can play a big role in this battery technology, and hosting this competition will be an opportunity for this innovation.

Meanwhile, the track composition to be used for ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Korea was presented. A track of about 2.8km at Jamsil Sports Complex enters and exits the main stadium, and uses the inner and outer roads of the stadium. And as the track is built inside the main stadium, it is expected to accommodate a number of people. In addition, the hosting at 'Gwanghwamun', which was discussed at the planning stage of the Seoul championship, had some real problems at traffic controlling in urban areas with high traffic congestion. Also, the championship is closely working with the Seoul Metropolitan.

▲ Sweeseng Lee, CEO of ABB Korea

Sweeseng Lee, CEO of ABB Korea, stated that ABB has a diverse portfolio, and especially it presents 57% of sales in technologies that reduce climate change and aims to increase its revenue contribution to 60% by 2020. ABB signed a seven-year title sponsor partnership with Formula E in January 2018, and ABB provides overall services such as charging technology and infrastructure for EVs. In addition, Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, a support series for ABB Formula E, supported the official charging infrastructure, including the application of ABB products and a customized compact Terra DC quick charger.

ABB is a pioneering technology leader in providing comprehensive services for the digital industry. It operates four major businesses including electrification, industrial automation, motion, robotics and discrete automation, all supported by the common platform ABB Ability. In particular, it has a high level of expertise in electrification and electric vehicle charging solutions and has supplied more than 11,000 rapid charging stations worldwide. And ABB's custom tailor DC charger is used in Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy race, a support series of ABB Formula E. On the other hand, ABB stated that Korea is ranked first in the "Automated Readiness Index," and is actively engaged in digitization, and economic effect of its automation has an exemplary impact globally.