Dry conditions allowed for uninterrupted running at yesterday’s first public test day at Donington Park – but technical glitches hampered many of the cars. Here’s what emerged.

The first day of public testing was – well, much like a day of testing. Watching the cars pound around the track is quite something, and well worth a visit. Drivers have been impressed with the handling and poise of the Spark-Renaults. Technical and operation issues cropped up in many garages, but a lot of useful data was banked too. Many drivers were feeling their way around using mid-level power maps, getting used to their new machines and shaking down the brand new second chassis.

Some teams seemed harder hit by problems than others, and cars being towed back into the pit lane was a frequent sight. No one is unduly worried, however. “These are effectively all prototypes, and teams are still learning how to set up and install the components,” said one source. “That’s what testing is for – to find these issues, to learn the car.”

Sound. Lots of sound. The Spark-Renaults are by no means eardrum-shattering, but they make a spectacular whining whistle that sounds very much like jets on take-off. Members of the public whom we spoke to commented favourably, remarking that the soundtrack of Formula E is very different to conventional motorsports and none the worse for it.

“You need to be a piano player to control this car.” So said Mahindra Racing driver Karun Chandhok. The cars are running with six power maps in addition to a host of settings to adjust brake bias and regenerative braking. Most teams were running at relatively low power on the first day, at around three or four on the dial. Drivers find themselves altering settings mid-corner, rather than on straights as in F1. “It’s easy in F1, because you do the changes on the straights and then turn in,” one driver told us. “But in the Spark-Renault, we’re making changes in the corners. It’s manageable, but it’s a lot busier for drivers in the corners.”

No more push to pass. Teams are concerned that the additional turbo boosts unlocked using a push button could comprise their race by draining batteries too fast. Push to pass was intended to temporarily derestrict the cars from their 133kW race mode to the full fat 200kW qualifying mode. It looks likely that the feature will be dropped, with the exception of the controversial Fanboost spurts.

More power. To counteract the loss of push to pass, race mode may see the cars running at 170kW instead of 133kW.

Race simulations. There will be two race simulation days before the season opener in Beijing. We haven’t yet confirmed if these will be at Donington Park but it seems reasonable to assume they will be.

A few extra pounds. The battery packs weigh in excess of 300kg; the rather more svelte 200kg figure more commonly quoted refers to the cells only. It also transpires that the batteries have to be kept at an optimum temperature – both when being discharged and being when recharged. Dry ice and leaf blowers were the order of the day while in the pits.

Communication breakdown. Several of the teams had battery problems, which seems to be an issue with the battery management system and/or the data loggers. Several new batteries were delivered to teams. Recharging appears to take around an hour for a full charge. At least one team discharged their car by accident instead of charging it, leading to a very, very short stint by that driver.

On Drayson. It raised eyebrows when British outfit Drayson pulled out of running a Formula E race team a few weeks ago in a shock move, to be replaced by TrulliGP. It seems that the reason is that Drayson wants to sell wireless charging technology to the rest of the grid; but that the other teams thought that might put them at a disadvantage.

Atmosphere. House music was piped onto the track at various points during the day, imbuing the sessions with an ambience very similar to après-ski events. The glamorous international DJs had their decks set up in race control. Very, very cool.