Vancouver city councillors Sarah Kirby-Yung and Michael Wiebe have brought forth a proposal to bring a Formula E World Championship series race to Vancouver next summer.
In addition to all the festivities that come with an all-electric, open wheel vehicle race, the weekend event would feature musical and cultural events, and a conference focusing on climate change and sustainability.
According to the motion, the city has been approached by a private Canadian promoter of the Formula E World Championship, the OSS Group, to stage the race weekend in July of next year in the False Creek area.
“The real driving force for me is around looking at COVID-19’s economic recovery, and the importance of having economic stimulus events, particularly for our hard-hit tourism sector,” said Kirby-Yung to the Vancouver Sun.
“And it is a net-zero (emission) event, certified by the UN. And it’s not just the race element in terms of demonstrating electrified transportation. And the idea of bringing that level of dialogue into the city with leading experts from the electrification space as we work towards sustainable transportation will have a lot of benefits for the city.”
Vancouver has been home to world-class racing in the past. The Molson Indy Vancouver was an annual Champ Car race held in a street circuit near BC Place and running past Science World in Vancouver in July, August or September from 1990 to 2004.
Since the 2020–21 season, Formula E is a FIA World Championship, making it the first single-seater racing series outside of Formula One to be given world championship status.
yes please!