Other Sports

Formula E to be held in Tokyo Bay area in 2024

Courtesy of Nissan Motor Co.
An electric car drives on city streets in a Formula E race in New York in July.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, October 11, 2022

The Formula E World Championship is expected to be held in the Tokyo Bay area in the spring of 2024. If realized, this will be the first time for the race to be held in Japan.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the race’s governing body signed an agreement on Oct. 4 for the city to host the race.

Formula E, the world championship for electric car racing, is an official race of the International Automobile Federation, which organizes Formula One, the pinnacle of automobile racing. More than a dozen races are held annually in major cities around the world, including New York, London and Seoul. The race has become a venue for European and other automobile manufacturers to showcase their technological capabilities and environmental initiatives. Japan has had a presence at the race through Nissan Motor Co.

All the cars in the race run on electricity and emit no loud noise or exhaust gas. Generally, the race is held on closed public roads in cities with racers hitting up to 280 kilometers per hour. For the 2024 course, a circuit around the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Koto-Ward, Tokyo, has been proposed, and the Tokyo metropolitan government will coordinate details with the Metropolitan Police Department and other related agencies.

The Tokyo metropolitan government aims to make all new passenger cars sold in the city non-gasoline vehicles by 2030, and hopes to use the race as an opportunity to promote the transition to EVs.