As U.S. local weather coverage was noisily dismantled in Washington over the spring and summer season, one other local weather story unfolded—quieter, sooner, and broadcast to tens of millions.
It unfolded within the streets of Monaco. São Paulo. Shanghai. Within the type of all-electric race automobiles tearing by means of metropolis facilities—cheered on by followers dwelling the transition to a low-carbon world, not ready for it.
System E: A worldwide leisure platform
Launched simply over a decade in the past, System E now reaches half a billion followers—lots of whom are new to motorsports. Not as a result of it promised sustainability. However as a result of it delivered a greater product: quick, high-drama races. City venues. A streaming-ready format. Cultural relevance in an EV-first world.
It’s a playbook price learning for any firm making an attempt to carry local weather innovation to the mainstream.
This isn’t about messaging. It’s about technique.
From clunky to leading edge
When Roger Griffiths first noticed a System E automobile in 2014, he wasn’t impressed.
A veteran of IndyCar, Le Mans, and System 1, he knew so much about going quick. And this wasn’t it. The battery was big, heavy, and underpowered. The efficiency? Underwhelming.
However System E wasn’t ranging from scratch. It was pulling from the highest shelf of world motorsport.
What struck him wasn’t the {hardware}. It was the names exhibiting up anyway: Michael Andretti, Alain Prost, and Frank Williams—legends who had constructed dynasties in IndyCar and System 1. Even Richard Branson had joined the grid.
“We are able to’t afford (for) this to fail,” Griffiths recalled on the Supercool podcast. “Too many individuals have an excessive amount of invested.”
System E didn’t start with velocity or vary. It began with credibility. And within the early days of local weather tech, that buys you time to iterate towards one thing higher. So that they did.
Designed for a brand new sort of fan
System E didn’t mimic System 1. It constructed a motorsport tuned to a brand new period.
Races final simply 45 minutes—tight sufficient for contemporary consideration spans, lengthy sufficient to create drama. The circuits run by means of the hearts of world cities, not distant tracks. Followers take public transit or Uber to races. The vibe? Much less pilgrimage, extra pop-up pageant.
The viewers is youthful, city, and digitally native. Many aren’t excited by proudly owning a automobile in any respect.
“Younger individuals right now don’t essentially need to personal automobiles,” stated Griffiths. “We’re catering to a crowd that thinks in a different way about mobility. System E acknowledges that.”
In the meantime, the know-how caught up—quick. Jaguar used race-day insights to enhance the vary of its I-PACE SUV. BMW co-developed programs between i3 engineers and race groups.
System E grew to become a proving floor—not only for followers, however for the EV trade.
Constructed to evolve
Not like legacy motorsports, System E gave itself permission to interrupt with custom.
It experimented early and sometimes: Fan Increase. Assault Mode. Interactive options lifted from gaming tradition. Some flopped. Others caught. However the league saved transport, studying, and transferring ahead.
“The previous me would’ve stated, ‘What a silly thought,’” Griffiths stated of Assault Mode, which provides drivers a brief energy increase in the event that they hit a marked zone on the observe. “The brand new me stated, ‘I’m unsure—however I’ll give it a go.’”
System E doesn’t look ahead to good. It exams concepts in public—on race day, with tens of millions watching. Both method, the race goes on. The game will get higher.
That mindset isn’t simply tolerated, it’s structural. System E’s governance permits change. Its tradition rewards it.
5 classes for local weather innovators
Innovators can be taught these 5 classes from System E.
1. Flip constraints into strengths.
Early EVs couldn’t end a full race. System E shortened them to 45 minutes, creating tighter, extra intense competitors completely tuned for social media spotlight reels and streaming.
2. Design for city life.
Electrical automobiles are quiet sufficient to race in metropolis facilities. Followers don’t must drive. They seize an Uber and plug into the expertise as a part of trendy life.
3. Iterate in public.
System E doesn’t cover experiments. It ships them in actual time, the place followers develop into a part of the method. Innovation is a part of the present.
4. Let local weather be the platform, not the pitch.
Sustainability underpins the entire thing. Sponsors don’t want convincing. Followers don’t really feel preached to. That’s what makes it scale.
5. Design for what’s rising.
System E didn’t retrofit previous codecs for electrical race automobiles. It aligned with a contemporary, city tradition: streaming-first viewing and shared mobility. These behaviors outline the place we’re heading.
A greater future, constructed for velocity
System E didn’t scale by speaking about emissions. It scaled by delivering an unimaginable fan expertise.
It understood how youthful audiences dwell, transfer, and interact—and constructed a sport round that.
It made the low-carbon future really feel inevitable, not by means of worry, however by means of power and pleasure.
And it proved one thing important: Local weather innovation doesn’t should commerce efficiency for precept.
It doesn’t should commerce something in any respect.
Josh Dorfman is CEO and host of Supercool.
