Battersea Park has been announced as the London venue for the inaugural Formula E motor racing championships, which starts this autumn. Twenty drivers from 10 teams will race electric cars at speeds of up to 150MPH in 10 cities around the world.

Race one takes place in Beijing this September and the final event, the ‘London ePrix’ is scheduled for 27 June next year. The Formula E series was launched on Monday evening at an event inside the Camden Roundhouse. Click here to see a video of the cars racing across Westminster Bridge earlier this week.

Developing electric supercars and racing them around the streets is about more than just sport, said Formula E chief executive of Formula E Alejandro Agag. “We have two objectives: to change people’s perceptions about electric cars and to develop technology that can be applied to road cars. Having more electric cars in our cities will help create cleaner air and reduce early mortality.

“We are convinced that if people, especially young people, see these cars race it may make more of them think about buying electric cars.”

Race cars will be recharged during the events using inductive power transfer pads on the ground. Mr Agag suggested that in future such infrastructure could be provided on city streets at locations such as at traffic lights to top up an electric vehicle’s battery.

Minister for business and enterprise Michael Fallon MP said at the event on Monday: “There has never been a better time to be part of the automotive sector here in Britain. We want the UK to be a global leader in the design, production and uptake of ultra low emission vehicles.”

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