By Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

This year, Earth Day is different and perhaps the most unusual that we have ever had. The coronavirus pandemic is causing people to suddenly experience nature as they have never seen it before. People in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in 30 years, the rivers are recovering, animals in zoos are behaving very differently, because there are no visitors. But also, people living in big polluted cities are feeling just how nature is breathing currently.

Of course, these are snapshots, but still, people are discovering what a world without that massive impact from production and mobility could feel like. This feeling makes Earth Day 2020 special. And I am sure that after this crisis, people will not only demand measures from their governments to bring their social and economic lives back to normal, but that they will also demand a rethink of the way we value nature, and will be more willing than ever to do their part.

We, the Formula E family, have been making our contribution to this rethink for some years now. I firmly believe that sustainability in our world must be based on technology and innovation. The threat of global warming is so far away for many people that they need to see a real benefit in changing their behaviour.

Electric cars meet these requirements perfectly: they are becoming cheaper and cheaper, and at the same time, more and more sustainable – a win-win situation that does not mean any restrictions in terms of our personal lives. When Alejandro Agag founded Formula E about eight years ago and brought it to life, this development was already on the horizon. That’s why I believed in it from the very beginning and seeing it today, six years later, that exactly this situation has come about: cars with combustion engines are becoming superfluous.