Leonardo Dicaprio and Venturi Automobiles launch final Formula E team

Film star and environmental activist Leonardo Dicaprio has teamed up with Venturi Automobiles to complete the 10 team line-up of next year's first all-electric vehicle racing championship.


The award winning actor has backed next year’s launch of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) Formula E series, which has, in part, been designed to promote the use of Electric Vehicles and to appeal to a new generation of motorsport fans.

Dicaprio has co-founded the new Venturi Grand Prix Formula E Team and will join Richard Branson, who entered a Virgin team last week, as high-profile ambassadors for the new racing series.

“The future of our planet depends on our ability to embrace fuel-efficient, clean-energy vehicles,” said Dicaprio.

“Venturi Grand Prix has shown tremendous foresight in their decision to create an environmentally friendly racing team, and I am happy to be a part of this effort,” he added.

Capable of speeds in excess of 225km/h, the cars will compete in 10 of the world’s leading cities including Beijing, Los Angeles and London.

According to a report publsihed in November, Formula E will help contribute to the additional sale of 77 million Electric Vehicles (EV) worldwide over the next 25 years (2015-2040). 

The report studied the impact of Formula E and its contribution to removing the current barriers affecting the EV market – such as pricing and technology – and quantifying that in terms of the number of attributed EV sales.

It quantified how the additional sale of 77 million EVs would lead to €142m extra worldwide sales for the car industry and the creation of 42,000 permanent jobs, based on a career duration of 40 years.

Earlier this year, edie spoke to the managing director of F1 team Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes’, Jonathan Neale, on how Formula One is taking its own steps towards sustainable innovations. Read the exclusive interview with Neale here.

Leigh Stringer

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