Beverly Hills, CA to get 2014 street race

Formula E car

Beverly Hills moved one step closer to hosting its own Electric Gran Prix following an initial meeting between Mayor Willie Brien and the competitive car race’s architect, Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag, on Wednesday.

“It was a very interesting concept that they presented," Brien told The Courier. “I’m excited to talk to them about options…but it really depends what the details are."

Agag said the world’s first Formula E car race sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) would kick off in 2014, with 10 teams racing two drivers each through 10 cities in Asia, Europe, the United States and South America in a series of street races.

“It’s not some science fiction project," Agag said. “This is real."

Earlier this year, Formula E Holdings acquired Formulec, a French company that manufactures Formula Electric racecars.

The single-seater racecars powered solely by electric energy cost approximately $1 million to produce. Today, there is only one such car in the world.

Lucas Di Grassi, a Formula 1 racecar driver who spent Wednesday morning scouting the streets of Beverly Hills for a possible 1-to-2-mile route that could be used for the hour-long race, said people are surprised by the power that electric cars can produce.

“When you see the performance of this, it’s incredibly fast," he said. “It’s really nice to drive."

Agag said the Formula E racecars will wind around city streets at speeds up to 150 miles per hour and assured The Courier that the race would be conducted in a safe manner.

“Safety is the first priority for the cities and the drivers," he said.

Brien said the preliminary talk was a first step in a process that would need to be vetted by the City’s police and fire departments, and ultimately subject to a City Council vote.

“I think in 2014, it could be one of the events that centers around the Centennial," he said. Beverly Hills Courier