Why Formula E Struggles to Attract Major US Car Manufacturers

• Americans Michael Andretti and the Jay Penske-Steve Luczo tandem have invested in the series.

• Formula E not on Ford’s radar at the moment.

• Brands highly visible in U.S. motorsports seem to be doing deeper dives where they are, but they don't seem to be going broader.

Were they lurking in the heart of France’s picturesque Côte d’Azur, skulking in the nooks of the iconic Monaco racing paddock? Alberto Longo, co-founder of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, rather playfully hinted as much: “You’ll see them.” Keep an eye out, he warned— “and then you write whatever you want.”

Longo was referring to representatives from U.S. automakers Ford, General Motors, and the Chrysler and Dodge brands that fall under the umbrella of multinational manufacturing firm Stellantis. (Maserati, which has a stake in Formula E, falls under the Stellantis banner.)

Despite the industrial advancement, hard-core marketing, and political push to move away from internal combustion engines in passenger cars to all-electric vehicles, U.S. automakers haven’t rushed to test the rather avant-garde technology on the racetrack. But Formula E will be making its first appearance in the Pacific Northwest this weekend at Portland, Ore., and perhaps the "Big Three” will have a more visible presence.

Certainly, this 12th of 16 races on the Formula E schedule and the lone one in the United States will feature two American-owned teams in Avalanche Andretti (with drivers Jake Dennis, the No. 2-ranked racer by a single point, and André Lotterer) and DS Penske (featuring current champion Stoffel Vandoorne and two-time series champ Jean-Éric Vergne).

Jeff Dodds, the series’ newly named CEO, said the USA clearly is a market existing Formula E manufacturers want to focus on. So, conceivably, this could give them a foot in the retail market at the expense of the true American nameplates.

"From a U.S. point of view, brilliant to have Andretti, brilliant to have Penske, but it would also be brilliant to have other U.S.-centric manufacturers,” Dodds said. “All be it, if you talk to Nissan and JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), and you talk to Maserati and McLaren and Porsche, they will tell you North America is one of their top priorities in the world. So while they're not traditionally American manufacturers, they all have a massive profile and presence in the U.S. now."

Nissan, which fields the cars of Norma Nato and Sacha Fenestraz, has a massive North American headquarters at Franklin, Tenn., and manufacturing plants at Decherd and Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss.