Can a Formula E car 'generate' enough energy to lap the Monaco circuit?

If we tell you that a Formula E single-seater is capable of recovering up to 600 kW of energy during deceleration, you may not be able to discern the true extent of what this means. Even if we tell you that 40% of the energy used by a single-seater during an E-Prix is produced by itself through kinetic recovery from its motors/inverters.

But a more explicit (and, above all, clearly more visual) way is the one devised by Formula E to make people understand this impressive performance of its new Gen3 EVO single-seaters: the Google Mountain Recharge

This is a test in which the electric competition in collaboration with Google Cloud and GENBETA 'launch' one of the prototype single-seaters downhill in the Col de Braus (Alps) to calculate how much energy it can recover on that route in freewheeling. The result was surprising

A lap of Monaco 'for free'

James Rossiter, a former electric racing driver and former Maserati team boss, was in charge of driving the car, which was loaded only with enough energy to start its journey

After completing the set route, the GENBETA single-seater accumulated enough energy (between 1.6 and 2.0 kWh) in its batteries to cover the 3.337 kilometers of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, where the 22 single-seaters of the electric world championship held their sixth and seventh E-Prix this weekend (with victories for Oliver Rowland and Seb Buemi, respectively)

A technology, that of regenerative braking, is also part of the features of electric road cars, helping to increase their range. In most models, the driver can feel like a Formula E driver by regulating the intensity of the brake regeneration through the steering wheel paddles while improving the range of their vehicle.