Hitting the waves: Behind the development and strategy of the new electric water-based motorsport E1 Series with CEO Rodi Basso

In September 2020, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) E1 World Electric Powerboat Series was announced. Set to be a global series based on seas and lakes with the goal of driving forward the electric revolution in the marine environment, the E1 Series is now ready to hit the waves with its inaugural event in February.

The UIM E1 World Electric Powerboat Series is the brainchild of Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, the founder of Formula E and Extreme E – now co-founder and chairman of E1 Series, Formula E chair and Extreme E chair and CEO – Rodi Basso, former director of motorsport at McLaren – now co-founder and CEO at E1 Series – and Dr Raffaele Chiulli President of the UIM.

Here we talk to Basso about the evolution, development and now launch of this exciting water-based motorsport that will be hitting our screens with the first race of the championship which is taking place in Jeddah on 2 to 3 February 2024.

The background to the creation of the E1 Series began in 2016 when McLaren won the FIA tender for developing the battery that would eventually allow Formula E cars to not need to swap out for a fresh battery during a race.

Basso was leading McLaren Technologies as a managing director at the time. With his team of 300 engineers plus the collaboration of Lucid Air, he worked on the development of the battery. This is where he met Alejandro Agag for the first time.

“Fast forwarding, in 2018 we delivered the battery in Riyadh for the first race of [Formula E’s] Generation 2. Everything was fine, and the battery performed fantastically for the following four to five years.

“After this time I decided to take a sabbatical, because after being backed by incredible brands like NASA, Ferrari, McLaren and so on, I [wanted to] build a new brand and a new project from ground zero. I didn’t have any idea, to be honest, in terms of what to do next, but in agreement with my wife I decided to take this sabbatical.”

This was now at the beginning of the global pandemic. Basso met up with Agag again as both were in London, and while jogging together to stay fit during COVID they discussed ideas and projects. One stood out, remembers Basso. This was SeaBird Technologies, the brainchild of Norwegian yacht designer, Sophi Horne, who was to become the designer of the E1 racing foil, RaceBird.

SeaBird is capable of reaching speeds of 50 knots (93 kph or 58 mph). Its peak power output is 150 kW (which is equivalent to 200 bhp), with a battery capacity of 35kWh (requiring two full charges per race event).

Says Basso: “Alejandro told me that he had invested in a start up funded by Sophi Horne, our designer [of RaceBird], to develop commercial boats based on foil and electric propulsion. Because of my background – I’m an aerospace engineer that has been involved in motorsport and electrification for many years – he was asking for support and for some guidance for this start up, because there was no engineer at that moment. It was the very beginning.

“In 24 hours, I went back home, I put together a deck – which was 80% of the base of the investor deck that we presented to our investors afterwards – with the idea of building a new championship based on a racing version of those boats, and of course on water. By doing so, we will have helped SeaBird [Technologies] in increasing experience, build a foundation, and market themselves in order to raise funds and continue their own life.”

That occurred in May 2020. In the September, the pair were at the Monaco Yacht Club where they were able to announce the 25 year-long exclusive licence that they had been awarded by the UIM for developing and promoting electric power boat championships worldwide. “So we are the only one who can do this, whatever the technology, existing or not existing, which is a strong position.”

SeaBird Technologies, the brainchild of Norwegian yacht designer, Sophi Horne, is the designer of the E1 racing foil, RaceBird

Passion for the sea

The reason Basso was drawn to this project comes from his love of the sea on one side, and his vision to create a new future for vehicles whether they be on water or land. “There is an element of passion,” he explains. “I come from a seaside place in Naples in Italy. I always loved sailing. After so many years in motorsport, I wanted to be in nicer places and also contribute to a project with a positive impact on the coastal area so that the future generation can enjoy this. But I have to say, this is a romantic element; there is also a business rationale behind this, because I have presented to Alejandro the huge opportunity behind a gap in the marine industry around electrification.

“The boat is zero emissions. It’s full electric. The infrastructure to charge the boat at present is based on biofuel, and we have a local battery storage, and then we charge the battery. From the beginning [from our first event] we consulted in order to be ISO certified 20121 in order to be an event at zero impact”

“With my expertise of electronic and electric systems, we have accelerated he marine industry by at least 15 to 20 years by implementing the state-of-the-art of what’s available in motorsport and supercars into a boat. So it’s not innovation at its peak. It’s innovation of cross-fertilisation with the vision that in the next generation boats, we want to be the driver, and we want to partner with a technology provider who wants to really drive the change and propose a new solution in order to revolutionise all mobility on water, on the road, and wherever.”

The combination of Basso and Agag is great match for the E1 Series. Basso explains: “Alejandro is a sport marketing guru, visionary, extremely credible in the finance world, and this allowed us to attract the investment to build the boats, the brand and the championship, and he is also respected on the commercial side. So in terms of deals, there are many groups and brands that are very much willing to be associated to each project to develop new things and new ideas and brand awareness.”

Aurora Media Worldwide is the broadcast partner for new all-electric raceboat championship, E1 Series

E1 Series goals and ambitions

On the goal for the series, Basso says: “We are a business based on technology and racing. We have the target of increasing the valuation of the company by four or five times in less than five years. In terms of mission, we want to achieve this goal by filling the gap in the marine industry [for electric boats] and allowing partners to join our developments in order to develop new solutions that you can then use in the commercial world.

“We push the boundaries on the water in terms of competition, push the boundaries on by using a 600 volt electric system to move the boat. We push the boundaries by using very complex fluid dynamics around the foils with our infrastructures”

“I believe in the combination of sport and technology as a technology lab – this is of course my engineering background – so we want to develop new solutions and exciting sport events. In the meantime, we feel an element of responsibility in a way that this could be a very easy way to fix all the environmental issues [around racing]. If you don’t do anything, of course there’s no impact. As much as we have enjoyed in our lifetimes living in coastal areas, enjoying sport events, and the exhilarating feeling of watching a race, we want future generations to continue to share these values and enjoy and take advantage of what’s happening in a racing environment. But of course, we need to be responsible so we are trying our best through our sustainability strategy to address this point with a very clear list of priorities.

“Point number one was the boat. The boat is zero emissions. It’s full electric. The infrastructure to charge the boat at present is based on biofuel, and we have a local battery storage, and then we charge the battery.

“Second, from the beginning [from our first event] we consulted in order to be ISO certified 20121 in order to be an event at zero impact. So again, credibility, measurement, KPIs.

“Third – last but not least – is the Blue Impact Programme. We propose to partners to fund a project led by Carlos Duarte, our chief scientist officer, in the most important marine biology of the world. He wants to apply his science by hiring local people [in every location that E1 races in] and educating them, providing them with the job to restore large scale coastal areas of 10 kilometres to 20 kilometres long over three to five years, regenerating the coastal areas and making sure that the water quality in the coastal areas are in good shape. On the E1 side, we will be there to promote this best practise and make sure that we spread this kind of project and mindset in every corner of the world.”

Climate change scientist Professor Duarte is based at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and already consults for Extreme E.

Continues Basso: “So that, in a nutshell, is our sustainability and our feeling of responsibility that we have with the organisation. So we have business target. We are passionate about sport and technology. We want to develop and continue enjoying this. And of course, there is the fun element. This new generation especially, we want them on board to continue to entertain themselves and be inspired by our athletes and by our celebrities that are made of incredible people.”

Finding the fan

That leads us neatly to the new prospective fan of this racing series. As with Extreme E, E1 is brand new, cool, very fast and just as importantly, electric, with environmental and sustainable ambitions; all things that younger generations are attracted to and concerned about.

Aurora Media Worldwide is the official broadcast partner for the E1 Series. Specialising in the production of live and non-live content for groundbreaking global sporting events – including both Formula E and Extreme E – Aurora is recognised as a creator of innovative, purpose-driven productions which are widely distributed around the world.

Says Basso on the fan of E1: “Looking at the fan base, for sure we are very much focused and concentrating on the younger generation, because if you have a young audience, you ensure yourself a future.

“I will say that my wish and our tactical plan is to try to attract families, especially for the onsite events,” he adds. “In this way we have a spread of generations involved. I think it’s also part of many places where we are going. Being near the shore, it’s really very much a family moment where the families go.”

The UIM E1 World Championship has the backing of some of the biggest names in the sporting and entertainment world, with team owners including Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal, Didier Drogba, Steve Aoki, Sergio Perez, and Virat Kohli.

Notes Basso: “Also our celebrities [involved in the sport will attract a] younger audience globally, all sport enthusiasts. Then, what I learned from Carlos Duarte in my chats with him – which are always mindblowing in a positive way! – more than 50% of the world’s population is living on a coastal area; lakes, rivers, and sea. That’s an audience in its own right. We want to attract people that understand, enjoy, and want to live with what is called the blue mind, so the sea lifestyle, the marine lifestyle, and continue to enjoy it.”

“As you might expect, the creative armoury includes data feeds, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), drones, agile and onboard cameras to create the E1 signature,” said Lawrence Duffy, Aurora managing director

Broadcast goals

Onto the broadcast and its goals, Baso says: “So like everybody, we will have a hybrid model of a mix of media, starting from linear TV and then going into the digital, classic social channels, OTT, maybe our own TV stream, and the latest way of distributing content like Twitch and of this sort of platform. [that covers the] generational [fan] element.”

The broadcast strategy will reflect the E1 Series’ key pillars that it is building itself around. Basso explains: “What is important for me is that our media product needs to reflect our pillars. First and foremost, we are building a sport. So the sport as a content needs to transfer the excitement, the jeopardy, the fight, in a good way. And also what the sport is about, which is pushing the boundaries, and you can extend this ethos onto everything we do. We push the boundaries on the water in terms of competition, push the boundaries on by using a 600 volt electric system to move the boat. We push the boundaries by using very complex fluid dynamics around the foils with our infrastructures.

“We are also athletes. I consider myself a professional athlete, so not as fit as our pilots, but somehow very much committed to competitive engineering and to performance,” he continues. “So the sporting element needs to describe this at 360 degrees; team owners, our celebrities, team managers, pilots, and also the augmented E1 team. All very much focused on, again, pushing the boundaries.”

In addition, the cities that E1 races in are an important part of the ethos, Basso says: “Our most important revenue stream and stakeholders are based in the city [we race in], so we want to celebrate the city brand and lifestyle everywhere we go. The way we select the city [to race in] is not only economic, but we look for either iconic places – Monaco, Miami – and/or venues that are affected by sustainability – Venice – or where there is a traction to find a solution to address sustainability. Rotterdam is one of those examples, but also Geneva, also Jeddah, where there is an incredible relationship with the sea. We don’t want to be a pop-up event.”

The broadcast will reach more than 500 million homes in over 150 markets across the world to connect it with a new, international fanbase. While more deals are being signed in the days running up to the first race, E1 Series is already set to appear on Chinese provider Tencent, PX Sports in Latin America, Supersport in 52 markets across Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the Saudi Sports Channel Company (SSC) will act as the first host venue rightsholder at the E1 Jeddah GP, broadcasting throughout the MENA regions alongside Dubai Sports.

Watch the E1 Series fly over the waves at its inaugural event on 2 to 3 February 2024 in Jeddah. More on the broadcast innovations of this event from Aurora Media Worldwide coming soon!