Tokyo will become the third Formula E location to host a night race in July after Formula E and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced both of its 2026 races will be held in the evening. 

Diriyah and Jeddah races in Saudi Arabia have previously been held in darkness utilising sustainable lighting systems in Formula E. Tokyo will have similar equipment, which will be powered by biofuel for the races that take place on the specially constructed Big Sight circuit around Tokyo's biggest exhibition centre. 

The third Tokyo E-Prix event will be the penultimate event of the 2025/26 season. Previously run on March and May dates, the 2026 event was pushed back to July because of civil engineering work being carried out in the Ariake district of the Japanese capital which hosts the races.

The move to night races is being seen as a milestone for Formula E which worked for almost a decade to secure the first ever street race in Tokyo.

"It's very important for several factors," chief operating officer of Formula E and series co-founder, Alberto Longo, told The Race.

"Firstly, in Asia, due to the difference of timezone, it's so important to have night races, because that would mean that we would be doing races in the afternoon in Europe, which is always a much better time."

The night races, which will both start at 20.00 local time, will also be a neat addition for the July date as temperatures in the city at that time of year regularly exceed 30-degrees Celsius.

"In July it's very, very warm in Japan," said Longo. "So having a night race will help with people attending the race and people having a much better experience." 

Longo also stressed that Tokyo's mayor Yuriko Koike has been instrumental in enabling the change of time for the races, saying that she "really wanted to bring back the nightlife into Tokyo again, and is using Formula E in order to be the platform to expose nightlife to the world".

"Tokyo is probably one of the most regulated cities in the world, and I say it in a very good way," added Longo. 

"Because everything has to have a process. But if you follow the process and you basically stand by what they believe in, there is never a ‘no'.

"There is always a ‘let's do it, let's just put the right process on it' and then a ‘let's make it work' mentality. 

"This is exactly what happened and it [started] as a kind of informal conversation the last time that we went to Tokyo to do the [night] races with Governor Koike, and she mentioned ‘why don't we do a night race?'"

From that point both teams (FEO and TMG) started to work on the plans, and according to Longo "only a few months later we already got the agreement".

"Obviously, logistically speaking it is much more challenging to be doing a night race than a day race," said Longo. 

"You're adding certain factors that make it a little bit more complex, but it's worth every hour, every minute that we have spent on it. It's going to work for sure; it's going to be spectacular." 

The Tokyo night races will be powered entirely - including the trackside lighting infrastructure - by sustainable energy, sourced from advanced biofuels.

The partnership between Formula E and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government represents a key initiative supporting the promotion of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV). The event serves as a high-profile platform to accelerate the city's climate action plan, which targets net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

Can Tokyo Big Sight host Gen4?

Tokyo will host the penultimate event of the Gen3 era in July, but eyes are already on the following year when the Gen4 era will kick in. 

That's because the relatively tight confines of the Big Sight area have prompted questions as to whether the larger and more powerful cars can be accommodated at the present tight iteration of the circuit.

But Longo said that Formula E is already working on solutions to these questions, saying it had "done simulations there and there is no issue".

"We could actually change it a little bit in order to become even better, so that's not an issue. But the reality is that we finished the contract right after this race. 

"So, the fact that they've given us the permit to do a night race, the fact that they are supporting us means that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will continue and extend the contract with Formula E.

"But obviously [potential track changes] it will be down to negotiation, it will be down to sitting down together, both parties, and that will happen very soon before even the race in July.

"Hopefully, we can extend for years, because it's definitely the right location and sitting with the right DNA for Formula E as well. The biggest cities in the world and in the city centre. I think it's exactly what we were born for, and Tokyo represents exactly what we are."

Formula E is currently working on an expanded calendar for the first Gen4 season in 2026-27.

Despite Longo's optimism, it remains to be seen if a fresh deal for Tokyo to continue can be reached and at present there is a real possibility the races this summer will be the last at the Big Sight location.

The event is one of the costliest on the calendar with a €20-25million spend widely talked about in the Formula E paddock. This is not dissimilar to the London E-Prix at ExCeL Arena, meaning that if both of these races do not continue Formula E Operations can look at saving budget and/or investing in permanent circuits for the future.

Japan has several tracks that could be looked at for future Gen4 races, including variations of the Suzuka track and also the Motegi racing complex - although the latter is owned by Honda, which has shown very little interest in Formula E since its inception.

The 2026-27 season calendar is currently in a highly provisional state and is likely to feature an Asian leg taking place in March and April across Shanghai, Sanya and possibly Jakarta, although the last-named is believed to still be a long-shot pending a new location, other than the Ancol area in the Indonesian capital, being found.