Brands Hatch to make Formula E debut on expanded Gen4 calendar

Brands Hatch is set to make its world championship return as Formula E has launched a record-breaking calendar for the 2026-27 campaign.

The Kentish venue will replace the ExCeL as host of the London E-Prix for what will be its first world championship event since the 2010 World Touring Car Championship.

It comes as Formula E has announced a 21-race calendar for next season, up by four races in the 2025-26 campaign, with Brands hosting a double header on the 29-30 May.

Jeff Dodds, CEO of the all-electric championship, said: “I don’t influence the calendar too much, but Brands Hatch was my local circuit growing up, so I know it really well.

“Amphitheatre from the top of hospitality, you get to look out across the entire grand prix circuit, incredibly fast circuit layout, and I think much underutilised as one of the best circuits in the world.

“We’re all committed in a multi-year agreement, us and MSV [circuit organiser], to not only make this a long-term home for us, but to make it the marquee event that Brands Hatch has been missing for a number of years.

“So, properly excited to see this on the calendar and 30 minutes from London, great location there, good transport links, it feels like a good long-term home for us.”

Brands Hatch will therefore become the third host of the London Eprix after Battersea Park (2015-16) and the ExCeL (2021-26) in a widely expected move with Autosport reporting on it in April.

That’s because the 2026-27 campaign will introduce the Gen4, which is set to become Formula E’s most powerful car yet with a peak output of over 800bhp.

It also has a top speed of 208mph, permanent all-wheel drive and is 87kg heavier than its predecessor meaning the futures of tight, city centre tracks were always at risk.

The ExCeL was one of those and despite it becoming a fan favourite, one of the most attended on the calendar, it is not as suitable for Gen4 as the historic Brands Hatch.

“We’ve raced in London for many years and it’s been brilliant for us,” Dodds told Autosport. “Indoor, outdoor race, great for fans, great for crowd, very disruptive, but you couldn’t put the Gen4 car on that circuit.

“It’s tight through turns three and four. There are bottlenecks already when we go through there with the Gen3 car, so it just wouldn’t have allowed us to put on a showcase that we think would be exciting for fans.”

COTA

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

This move to permanent circuits has been seen across the Gen4 calendar though, as Brands, Zandvoort and Circuit of the Americas are all set for their championship debuts.

Austin, in particular, was touted for a race “three years ago” according to Dodds, but it was a case of right place, wrong time with the Gen3 machines still in operation.

“Austin’s always felt good for us: vibrant, growing city, focus on technology and innovation, understanding of sustainability,” the CEO added.

“It felt like a really good fit from a city point of view. It just felt that the track wouldn’t allow the cars to show themselves off. So Gen4 became our target to try and get onto the calendar and I’m delighted we got to an agreement with them.”

COTA will host its maiden Formula E race on 6 February and is going to be one of two US venues alongside Miami, which has been on the calendar since 2025.

They will serve as rounds four and five after the season begins with a Jeddah double header in December, before heading to Mexico for its traditional January slot.

Jeddah Eprix

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

After COTA and Miami there will be trips to Sao Paulo, Sanya, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Brands, Zandvoort, Madrid and Shanghai, with Tokyo hosting the finale on 24-25 July.

It is certainly an expanding calendar and one which looks totally different to Formula E’s debut season in 2014-15 when it held a city centre mantra with only street circuits.

So when asked if the championship is now changing its identity, Dodds responded: “It kind of has to be because we’re growing up.

“You go back 12 years when we were in our infancy, you had two cars because the batteries weren’t very good, the top speeds weren’t very high, we didn’t have any fans.

“So you wanted to take the races to places where they were naturally put for people around.

“We’ve got over 400 million fans around the world now. The cars are capable of almost delivering on a similar speed and performance to a Formula 1 car. So inevitably, we have to match the circuit to where the championship is.

Gen4 launch at Paul Ricard

Photo by: FIA Formula E

“What I would say is that we want to be close to urban locations: Brands Hatch is 30 minutes from London, Zandvoort is 30 minutes from Amsterdam.

“We want to be close to a big urban location and we want to be on a circuit that allows the car to show itself off.”

Changes to race weekend format

Alongside its calendar announcement, Formula E has revealed changes to the sporting format from next season with these tweaks concerning double-headers.

The eight venues hosting a pair of races – Jeddah, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort, Madrid, Shanghai and Tokyo – will run a sprint-style race one before a traditional E-Prix on the next day. 

The sprint race format, labelled as “E-Prix Unleashed” will have its own free practice and qualifying session, with the race lasting between 25-30 minutes.

Formula E 2026-27 calendar

We want to hear from you!

– The Autosport.com Team