Formula E Race Equipment Embarked on a Multimodal Journey to Beijing as DHL Delivers FIA Formula E

DHL, the leading global brand in the logistics industry, announced the successful delivery of 40 electric race cars, spare parts and lithium-ion batteries to China for the opening of the FIA Formula E Championship’s second season at the Olympic Park around the iconic “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China. Making their way from Donington Park, UK, to Beijing via Belgium, Germany, Belarus and Russia, the race cars have travelled a total of more than 12,000 km through multimodal modes including road, sea and rail to reach their destination. As the Official Logistics and a Founding Partner of Formula E, DHL has delivered more than 450 tons in supporting vehicles and equipment to Beijing ahead of the race including medical cars, broadcasting equipment, and more than 10 containers of racing-related freight including signage via air and sea.

“It continues to be a great privilege to deliver Formula E to China for a second year running and take the championship into its next phase of sustainable innovation. As the FIA Formula E Championship matures, the logistics challenges of delivering both cars and supporting equipment become more complex, particularly when transporting increasingly bespoke cars and power systems to international safety standards,” said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. “It’s testament to the expertise of our personnel that we were able to deliver not only the cars but medical, broadcast, and ancillary race equipment in a safe and timely manner, addressing issues ranging from delivery timing constraints to limited container maneuverability through a combination of our world-class services in road, rail, sea, and air freight.”

DHL’s longstanding automotive logistics expertise saw it deliver 41 electric race cars and 45 lithium-ion batteries to the starting line in the first season of FIA Formula E Championship. The lithium-ion batteries, which weigh 320 kg and contain 200 kg of lithium ion cells, require specialist handling, packaging and certification in many markets and are subject to stringent transport safety regulations. 

“With increasing safety concerns around the shipment of lithium-ion batteries and a growing number of airlines no longer accepting bulk battery shipments [1], we need to ensure a safe and sustainable way of shipping them,” said Charles Kaufmann, CEO, North Asia and Head, Value Added Services, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. “DHL provides the necessary specialist handling, packaging and certification for lithium-ion battery shipments and all battery components for Formula E are delivered with utmost care at each leg of the journey that spans more than 12,000 km from Donington Park to Beijing.”

As part of the Formula E festivities in Beijing, fans can look forward to fun activities and entertainment at the DHL booth in the eVillage, an urban festival area at the Olympic Park next to the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium. Fans can experience the speed of Formula E at the 4D Experience Cinema, be a part of the digital multimodal journey taken by the race cars from Europe to China and pit their skills at the Last Mile Delivery interactive games.   

“We are extremely pleased to host Formula E for the inaugural race of their second season in Beijing,” said Wu Dongming, Managing Director of DHL-Sinotrans and Executive Vice President of DHL Express Asia Pacific. “The FIA Formula E Championship – a one-of-a-kind event of massive scale that points to the future of sustainable technology and innovation well beyond the automotive industry – has been a great success in the first season. With DHL providing reliable and carbon efficient logistics solutions that have kept pace with Formula E’s increasingly complex and large-scale racing environment, we are confident that the second season will continue to be a roaring success.”

For the FIA Formula E Championship series, DHL provides an extensive range of logistics services, incorporating the most efficient and green technology and processes available today to ensure all race equipment required for each location is delivered safely and on time. The championship is the first global, fully-electric racing series, and is a major undertaking – spanning ten cities in almost ten months and covering a total distance of over 50,000 kilometers. The shipping requirements for the championship amount to about 450 tons per race, which equates to more than 25 freight containers to each location. Alongside the race cars, DHL ships equipment including about 200 tires, 20 charging units and 45 batteries to the races.

To ensure that Formula E’s logistics is sustainable, DHL has employed modes of transport such as ocean or rail whenever the schedule has allowed, in order to minimize the carbon emissions of the championship.