Formula E will expand its calendar for the 2026-27 season, with at least 18 races expected for the first campaign of the Gen4 era.

A crucial part of that expansion is expected to be a second race in the US alongside Miami. Last weekend, Formula E staged its first race at the Miami International Autodrome, on a truncated version of the Formula 1 circuit that features the Hard Rock Stadium as its backdrop.

And while there's one frontrunner - another grand prix venue - for next year's second slot, conversations are ongoing with other candidates, including one of the country's most revered circuits and a number of cities.

Here's the latest:

Austin

A Formula E race at the Circuit of the Americas is being considered for the first Gen4 season, with a potential January or February date being discussed to form a US double-header alongside Miami.

The Race can reveal that both a recent site visit to Austin and a meeting in Miami with COTA's vice-president of motorsport, Andy Soucek, have taken place prior to Formula E forming its definite calendar for the 2026-27 season, which it will submit to the FIA in early June.

Formula E has expressed its desire to have at least two races in the US and has explored options in Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington DC and Detroit recently. But COTA is believed to now be a favourite for a race and would likely take place on either its 2.4-mile NASCAR layout or 2.3-mile national circuit.

Formula E's vice-president for host cities, Oli McCrudden, told The Race in Miami last weekend that COTA was "a good, viable option, but nothing's off the table at this point in time".

"There's always that sort of, 'Do we want a direct comparison type question' about whether we want to go into somewhere that has been an F1 market. Frankly, I think if you go into a circuit and you're putting on good racing the way that we do and the circuit's going to be slightly different, it doesn't matter so much."

Austin is a progressive US city and is a major hub for electric vehicles in Texas. Its market is also aggressively expanding, with over 800 charging stations and a municipal public service fleet that has transitioned to include many electric vehicles.

Laguna Seca

A Formula E race at Laguna Seca would certainly generate big headlines for one of the US's most-recognisable and loved tracks.

It wouldn't offer the urban feel Formula E is so used to racing in but with a decent demographic in San Jose, around 70 miles away, it could work. The purists might be torn but should the Gen4 car live up to its hype - or exceed it - then this race could be a goer.

Laguna Seca also has significant noise restrictions and a limitation on so called 'noisy days'. So embracing the world's only all-electric world championship, at a track within a State that is considered the home of electric vehicles, seems like a very neat fit indeed.

"I've looked at that [Laguna Seca] and we've got the FIA looking at the analysis again on the data to see how that might work for us," added McCrudden.

"Personally, I would love to do something like that and I would love to pull a heritage piece out of motorsport history and go, 'And this is how we’re going to do it now' and show off something. That for me gives me goosebumps, to go into places like that.

"But I'm agnostic in truth. Let's look at the business case. Let's look at how it's going to show off Formula E."

The city options

Formula E is recently understood to have held discussions with Washington DC, the US capital city, although it is not believed to be linked to the recently announced Arlington race for IndyCar.

Talks with Detroit have also taken place, although details on this are sketchy, as are similar possibilities with Atlanta, Phoenix and Denver.

But hopes of a race in Phoenix, which has been a long-time Formula E target but hit a stumbling block last summer, are now believed to be pretty much over.

"We have a number of live conversations, so in March-April time, we'll lock in a draft calendar submission to the FIA, so we don't have a huge amount of time," Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told The Race last week.

"We've got a lot of live conversations, and the range of those are from Atlanta to Phoenix, to COTA, to Detroit, to Denver.

"There's a whole load of live conversations, including Toronto. It could be Miami plus Toronto. It could be Miami plus another USA venue, but we are having live conversations with them."

The deal will have to be right for both venue and Formula E and those negotiations will continue in the coming weeks. But for now, Formula E - for many reasons - feels like it just has to double down on its American dream.