Cape Town ePrix | Six questions with Jaguar TCS Racing's Mitch Evans

South Africa's first ever Formula E race is taking place in Cape Town this weekend and TimesLIVE Motoring is attending the event with Jaguar TCS Racing. As such we enjoyed an exclusive behind the scenes look at the first free practice day and an opportunity to chat briefly to one of the team's drivers, Mitch Evans.

From making the switch to electric and rubbing fenders to getting to grips with the new Gen 3 cars and visiting South Africa for the first time, the 28-year-old New Zealander shared some fascinating insights from his life in Formula E.

Mitch, how does an electric racing car compare to a regular ICE racing car?

It's pretty impressive, to be honest. With the instant torque there’s no delay from as soon as you get on the throttle to the delivery to the rear tyres. I don’t know if you’ve driven an EV but that’s one of the big differences between a combustion engine and an electric car.

And obviously in Formula E we have a lot of power — up to 350kW — to try and get down to the ground, which is quite difficult sometimes. So that's probably the biggest difference along with the regenerative braking system — how we regenerate energy under braking and use it to top the battery up. Apart from that it's still a race car and it's got all the same mechanical set-up options that you’d have in any other race car, but with a few differences.

What was it like to drive a Formula E car for the very first time?

I came from a GP2 car, which at the time had a V8 engine and was very fast with a lot of downforce and slick tyres. And then I drove the Gen 1 Formula E car and it was a complete shock to the system.

The biggest difference obviously is the noise — or the lack of noise. You don't realise how much you use the RPM of the motor in a combustion engine car for references of queuing where the car is at. Now I'm in tune with the car and I know when I’ve got X amount of wheelspin or slip or whatever, but it does take a little bit to get used to it. 

The braking is also a lot different just because of the way that we regenerate the energy; the feeling's different to a normal, conventional race car. But apart from that it’s pretty similar. Every category, whether it's combustion or not, is different. So you always have to adjust to how the car has been designed, to the tyres and the power etc. But obviously there's some key differences with this car, which it takes a bit to get used to, especially with the energy saving as well. What we do in the race, that's very unique.

So for rookies to come in and be competitive is very hard now. But yeah, that's the beauty of the championship. It's one of the biggest championships in the world, but it's got a big point of difference at the same time. 

What are some of the challenges of driving in Formula E?

The tracks are very challenging. We race on a road tyre so we haven't got a lot of grip to start with, which means trying to get the power down and trying to handle the car around these tricky streets leaves no room for error. And on top of that, from the competition side, it's just so competitive.

All the drivers and all the teams are world class. So everything has to be perfect for you just to have a chance at a podium or victory. So that's probably the biggest challenge here — every other driver here on the grid.

Is this your first time in Cape Town and what do you think about it?

It's my first time here in South Africa. So I've only been to Africa once and that was at the very top in Marrakesh. So now we're visiting the south, which is amazing. Cape Town reminds me a lot about Auckland and parts of Australia. It's a bit of a hybrid between the two. So I love this environment and love being by the coast. But yeah, Cape Town's got everything. It's got good food. Good wineries, which I hope we will experience on Sunday. The locals are also very friendly and so far everyone's been really welcoming and very excited for us to be here. 

The track is amazing as well, with its location in the heart of the city right by the water. I think it's definitely going to be a favourite for us to come back to in the future, you know, up there with the likes of Monaco and Rome. But the track looks really challenging, extremely challenging. To me the fastest track we’ve experienced in Formula E with no room for error. 

How does the new Gen 3 Formula E car compare to last season’s Gen 2 car and has the move from Michelin to Hankook had an impact on performance?

Well, I would say the biggest difference is probably the tyre. So yeah, there's obviously a difference between the two cars with the new one having a front powertrain, less weight and a lot more power. Aesthetically, it's obviously a bit different too, but the biggest difference comes from the tyre.

The Hankook is a lot harder than the Michelin. It's got a different working range. The tyre really dominates the feeling of the car and we are still getting on top of what the tyre needs from a driving point of view and from a technical point of view. So there’s been a lot of relearning. To be honest, I'm feeling a lot more comfortable in the car, but yeah, a lot that has changed. To name everything is a bit tricky because it's literally everything!

But I'm looking forward to seeing how this car behaves around this type of track.

Finally, how much contact can you take in these cars and what are you willing to risk?

I would say the Gen 3 cars have been more fragile than the Gen 2 cars. The Gen 2 cars had a little more bodywork — we obviously had the wheel fenders. The actual bodywork was also stiffer and stronger. So the contact you'll see this year will be a little bit less or the consequence of contact will be more. The Gen 2 was obviously a single-seater but it almost had a bit of a GT prototype feel to it with the bodywork and consequently allowed us to run very close to one another and get away with it. But I think Gen 3 is going to be a little bit different; it's going to be a little bit more conventional single seater racing.