i3 - November/December 2016 - 8

Tech

open wheel race cars will whiz around a
1.21-mile, 13-turn track that will wind
around the streets of Brooklyn's Red Hook
neighborhood.
The Financial Times named Agag
one of the 10 "shakers and movers" of
the Spanish economy in 2007, and he
was described as a "political hopeful,
economist, banker and indefatigable dealmaker." In 2008, GQ Magazine honored
him as the Spanish "Businessman of the
Year." i3 recently spoke with him regarding
his vision for an electric mobile world and
what he would like to see at CES 2017.

Tell us about your vision for
launching Formula E. What is your
business model?
The vision for Formula E is to create a
platform to develop the technology of
electric cars and also to help change the
perception of electric cars. Obviously
this needs to be sustainable in terms of
business and also to be able to survive in
the long term. We generate revenue from
sponsorship, which is very strong as big
companies now like to be associated with
sustainability. We also make revenue from
the teams that participate in the championship, that contribute to the costs in the
championship and also from corporate
hospitality, ticketing and TV rights. That
business model is working very well.
We are on track to be a very profitable
business soon.

Why did you decide to pursue
electric cars? Was clean energy
part of the decision?
We were in the world of motorsport and we
thought something was missing. Something
to make motorsport relevant to what is
happening on the streets in our cities and
our countries, and that is the electric car
revolution. We are facing a big change in
the industry and we wanted to be part of
that. We want to accelerate that change to
electric because we think that is what makes
motorsport relevant and to play a role in
one of the biggest challenges that we face
which is city pollution. An even bigger
challenge is global warming and this is
why we chose to promote electric cars.
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

How does Formula E act as a
laboratory for racing?
Racing has always been a laboratory for
the development of technology in the
motor industry, before with combustion
cars and now with electric cars. Ten
teams want to win and they will develop
technologies to win - that is the big
motivation - that is the goal. As they
develop technologies to win, they then
can use those technologies for the road
cars and those technologies will improve
road cars and the experience of road cars
users all over the world. This will help
more and more people buy electric cars
and drive electric cars.

How is a Formula E track unique
compared with other motorsports
like Formula 1?
The Formula E tracks are special because
they are in the streets in the cities. We
want to bring this sport to the streets,
to the people, to bring this message that
electric cars are the solution for mobility in

the city to fight pollution. This is the main
problem that we face today and is creating
huge health problems for many, many
people living in the cities.

What are some of the new ideas
you're considering?
Roborace, we are going to have this race with
robots - autonomous cars - that will take
place before the Formula E race as a support
event and we are thinking about many
other technologies that we will include
in our experience. Formula E is going to
be the hub where all the new cool tech
things are going to happen, exposed and
showcased. That is Formula E, a platform
for the future of mobility. We are going to
explore all those aspects, like electric, driverless, connected (mobility) and more.

The recent Hong Kong race
marked the debut of teams like
TECHEETAH, Faraday Future and
Jaguar Land Rover. Audi, BMW and
Mercedes are also expanding their
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N
i3 - November/December 2016

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