Formula E boss wants electric car race to run past the Palace

Attraction: last year’s Formula E race in Battersea Park was watched by 60,000 people

The boss of an environmentally friendly alternative to Formula One wants to bring all-electric racing cars to the streets of London.

This year’s Formula E event on July 2 and 3 will be the last to be held in Battersea Park despite permission for another year, said chief executive Alejandro Agag.

Bosses are in talks with Sadiq Khan’s officials to “explore other sites in the capital”, with their first choice being through St James’s Park and past Buckingham Palace.

Last year, more than 60,000 people watched the first Battersea Park race on a 1.5-mile circuit. Wandsworth council gave permission for the race to run for three years, but residents angry at noise, disruption and damage to the park brought a judicial review.

Mr Agag said: “We had races in Paris and Berlin that were right in the heart of the city, which were a fantastic success.

“We’ve had preliminary conversations with the GLA, but there’s been no permission or route authorised yet.

“I love Battersea Park, but you’re effectively in a park and all you see is trees — this would be a view of London’s landmarks.” Of the Battersea Park cancellation, he said: “We have reached an agreement with residents, some of who were objecting and protesting, that this will be the last race in Battersea Park. The judicial review had been withdrawn.”

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “The Mayor…intends to work with FIA Formula E to explore other sites in the capital.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT