10,000 kilometers to the season opener in Hong Kong

Twelve races in ten cities on five continents: a total of more than 50,000 km from Asia via Africa, South and Central America and Europe to North America. Formula E is a year-round project for logistics partner DHL. Tightly organized logistics planned a long time in advance ensure that the cars will be in the right place at the right time, precisely as the race calendar dictates, along with the teams’ extensive equipment and infrastructure.

From Donington to Hong Kong

And the first long journey is done: upon arrival at Central Harbor in Hong Kong, the 40 Formula E racing cars have successfully completed 10,000 kilometers of transport from Formula E’s home base in the UK. “It is an exciting time for Hong Kong,” said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. “The FIA Formula E Hong Kong ePrix is the first of its kind and the biggest motorsport event to be held in Hong Kong.”

The entire journey was organized by the specialist teams at DHL, the world’s leading logistics company. In addition to the electric vehicles that are transported from race to race, DHL also moves over 200 tires, spare parts, signage and the highly-sensitive Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS). The RESS powers each race car and if transported by air, as is the case for the HK ePrix, this requires additional expert customs clearance and specialist certification, packaging and handling procedures.

“As potentially volatile battery units, each RESS is subject to a comprehensive series of safety checks and compliance requirements, including constant temperatures between 10°C and 30°C and remaining no more than 30% charged throughout the entire journey,” explains Kelvin. “This year, we worked extensively with customs in both the UK and Hong Kong to sufficiently minimize the risks so that the RESS fleet could be delivered via air – something we believe sets a game-changing precedent for electric vehicle makers to transport their critical components with greater speed and ease than ever before.”

400 tons of material by air, land and sea

All in all, 400 tons of materials were transported to Hong Kong. “It is no easy feat and is only made possible with our extensive network and specialist teams,” added Kelvin. From the airport in Hong Kong, the last leg of the long journey is by truck to the Central Business District. “Our truck drivers have to contend with the challenge of negotiating extremely large and sensitive shipments through an urban environment that only accommodates the most maneuverable of vehicles,” said Steve Huang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding China. “Many of those deliveries will require strategic route planning and expert handling essential for a photo finish to the Formula E logistics journey.”