Formula E Preview: Can Dennis defend his title honours?

The Formula E season kicks off for its tenth year in 2024, having launched for the first time in 2014.

Jake Dennis heads into the year as the defending champion, having sealed his first World Championship with Andretti during the 2023 season. Only Jean-Eric Vergne has successfully managed to defend his title between the 2017/18 and 2018/19, will Dennis be able to do the same in 2024?

He will have some competition as Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans look to improve on their fortunes having finished as runner-up last year, while Pascal Wehrlein will also be in the hunt at Porsche.

British driver Sam Bird will replace René Rast at the McLaren Formula E team, following a difficult third year with Jaguar. Oliver Rowland also returns to Formula E with Nissan, while Maserati has signed Indian driver Jehan Daruvala replacing Edoardo Mortara.

Robin Frijns switches from Abt Cupra and returns this season to Envision, the team who took last year's Constructors' Championship. Fellow Dutch driver and 2019/20 champion Nyck de Vries also makes a return.

After a foray into Formula 1, he returns to the electric racing class at Mahindra. That team did not fare very well last year, so it is to be hoped that it can find its way to the front this season.

The calendar

A total of sixteen E-Prix's will be held in 2024. The new season will kick off in Mexico, where the lights will go out Saturday 13th January.

After that, the circus will travel on to Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, for two races. The highlight of the season, however, will be the E-Prix of Monaco, which will take place on April 27!

The season will end with two races in China, the United States and Great Britain respectively. The last two races will take place in London, where on 21st July the next Formula E World Champion will be crowned.

New rule

When Formula E was created, it was not yet possible to complete a race with just one car - drivers switched to a new car in between races.

Now the cars are strong enough to cover an entire race distance and have a number of gimmicks. For example, again this season, a driver can temporarily use "Attack Mode" if the driver elects to take a 'joker' lap to gain an extra 50 kilowatts of power.

From the sixth race in Italy, it will also introduce something new: 'Attack Charge' faster charging. Drivers must make a pit stop to enable 'Attack Mode' to be used later.

This pit stop may be made by drivers only at the time indicated by race control. The stop takes longer because of safety and a 'Boost Charger' is applied to quickly recharge the car. The drivers can then use the 'Attack Mode' twice and have four kilowatts more power for the remainder of the race.

The scoring? That's the same as Formula 1 between 1st and 10th. If you take pole position, you do get an extra three points.

How to watch Formula E live on TV

In the UK you can watch Formula E on both Discovery+ and TNT Sports. The first race of the season kicks off at 19:00 on TNT Sports 4.