Formula E to stage first race in Beijing

New motorsport championship to take place in 10 cities worldwide

Formula E drivers will start their engine on Saturday at the Olympic Park in Beijing as the maiden electrically powered FIA (International Automobile Federation ) racing championship season begins.

The Beijing ePrix features 10 teams with 20 racers competing for the prize, including former Formula One drivers Italian Jarno Trulli and German Nick Heidfeld.

Trulli even has a team named after himself - Trulli Formula E Team - in the race.

The Saturday race also -includes a team from China, China Racing Team.

Former A1 driver Ho-pin Tung, a Chinese-Dutch driver, and former F1 driver Nilson Piquet Jr, son of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet, will make headlines for local fans.

Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings, said he hopes the FE race will inspire more children to choose electrical cars in the future.

"We need to convince the younger generation," Agag told a news conference on Thursday. "The kids, when they buy a car, the first car they buy has to be electric.

"We want to change the things for better, to have more electric cars in the streets in the cities all around the world in an attempt to fight against air pollution."

Two female drivers, Italy's Michela Cerruti and Britain's Katherine Legge will also join the race.

Practice, qualifying and the race will all take place in one day in order to minimise disruption to the city.

Twenty-five laps, 3.44 kilometers each, are set to be finished by the drivers. The race will last about one hour on -Saturday afternoon.

The batteries the cars use are not powerful enough to propel them wire-to-wire, so the FIA has mandated one pit stop per driver per race.

It takes a Forumla E car less than three seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour, with speeds topping out at a governed 225 kilometers per hour.

The winner of the race will take home 25 points, the runner--up 18, and the third-place finisher 15. The driver with the fastest lap will earn two additional points.

In a nod to social media, the three drivers with the most votes before the race will be given a five-second head start at the beginning of the race.

The Formula E circuit will visit 10 different cities around the world, with Chinese online video portal letv.com planning to broadcast each event live.