A temporary 1.3 mile race circuit was set up at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook for the NYC E-Prix — featuring fully electric Formula E race cars.
“Our core is to be racing in the heart of the biggest cities in the world, and obviously we needed to come to New York, such a fantastic vibe and a terrific city,” Alberto Longo, co-founder and chief championship officer for Formula E, said.
What You Need To Know
- The 2022 New York City E-Prix is being held in Brooklyn Saturday and Sunday
- A 1.3 mile race circuit has been set up at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook
- Formula E cars are fully electric and can race at around 175 miles per hour
- Formula E races last 45 minutes
It’s the fifth visit to Brooklyn for the race — part of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with 12 teams, featuring 24 drivers, are competing. The cars can travel as fast as 175 miles per hour during the 45 minute races at the unique spot away from the city center.
“It’s a perfect combination, because you can have the skyline of the south of Manhattan, you can see the Statue of Liberty and you are actually in the middle of the town so it is basically checking all the boxes that we wanted,” Longo said.
Among the drivers in the E-Prix is Pascal Wehrlein of Germany, who won in Mexico City earlier this year, driving for Porsche. He also drove Formula 1 cars, which are also single-seater open cockpit cars that require gas to run.
“A bit of different driving in the races, we are not racing flat out actually we need quite a lot of energy to make it through the race,” Wehrlein said. He added that the Formula E races provide plenty of excitement.
“It’s definitely spectacular and I think everyone should come and watch and enjoy the show,” Wehrlein said.