Today, Tuesday, September 9th, the three-day test scheduled for the Gen4 Formula E car begins at the Spanish Monteblanco circuit, where important decisions will be made.
According to information available to the editorial staff of Electric Motor News, Bridgestone slick tires will be tested today (Tuesday), obviously with the presence of officials from the Japanese tire company, which, according to our sources, has already decided on the compound to use for the new car’s first season, the 13th season of Formula E (2026-2027).
Consequently, this would be the definitive test for the slick tires.
Different issues, however, will arise for the test sessions scheduled for Wednesday, September 10th and Thursday, September 11th, when it will be the turn of the rain tires, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the Monteblanco circuit to wet the track.
This would test the Bridgestone tires to be used in wet conditions. According to what Electric Motor News’s Long Ear heard, these tires would be equivalent to the intermediate tires used in Formula 1.
From our information, the tread of these tires would be symmetrical and the grooves would start from a hypothetical central line of the tire to develop in a slight curve towards the two sides, the tire construction would be similar to that of road tires, and they would be what are technically called “directional,” meaning they are mounted on the right or left, respecting the direction of travel of the tire.
Other information we can provide is that the Bridgestone tires for Formula E would be manufactured in Italy and Japan and distributed according to logistical needs and, obviously, the location of the championship races.
Of course, all those responsible for the car will be involved in the tests, meaning all the companies that work under the Spark umbrella, the Italian company Podium, responsible for the batteries, and, of course, Bridgestone.
Another element to be fine-tuned in these tests are the two noses included in the original tender. One of these noses is intended for high-speed circuits and the other for slower circuits. From what we’ve been able to gather, the one suited to high speeds is more open with some interesting aerodynamic studies; while the other is more closed to deliver more downforce to the front… and someone slipped out the comment “not much different from the Gen2 one.”
We have recovered an old official Formula E photo taken at the time of the Gen3 presentation and we are curious to know if they will “recover” the nose that was originally presented but which was never used.
In conversations we had with our interlocutors, we were told that at various stages of development of the noses, some wing surfaces were added to optimize downforce on the front.
The next test after these three days should be in a month, again in Monteblanco, and at that time the first five cars should be delivered to five teams, which, according to what the Long Ear at Electric Motor News heard, should be Penske, Mahindra, Porsche, Andretti, and Jaguar.
According to our sources, overall, all the tests have gone smoothly and without major problems so far, unlike what happened with the Gen3 car, which didn’t get off to a good start and required numerous modifications along the way. As far as we know, this Gen4 machine had only two issues in the various tests conducted, resolved within half a day, once with the variator and once with the batteries… both resolved within a few hours and defined as teething problems.
#MarceloPadin #theEMNteam
Quindi mi pare di capire dall’articolo che le nuove Gen 4 avranno gomme slick (senza scanalature) per l’asciutto e gomme scanalate intermedie per la pioggia?
E’ corretto o sbaglio?
Buongiorno thegamer123. E’ proprio così, come previsto dal tender originale di Formula E. Ancora è presto per dire se quelle da asciutto saranno slick oppure scanalate, ma di sicuro ci saranno due tipi di pneumatici per asciutto e bagnato a partire dalla stagione 13 del 2026-2027 quando si inizierà a correre con la Gen4.