The new Mahindra Gen4 development car broke cover on Thursday and completed its first laps ahead of the manufacturer's fourth Formula E era.

The Race has learned that Jake Hughes conducted the running at the Abingdon Airfield facility in Oxfordshire, UK, which was a shakedown on Thursday before more concentrated testing begins next month.

Both current drivers Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries are set to get seat time in the car in addition to Hughes as Mahindra attempts to make up for lost time after a late confirmation of its Gen4 entry, which came in the autumn of 2025.

Stellantis, Nissan, Jaguar, Porsche and Lola are believed to have completed between four and eight days each of Gen4 testing so far, with reliability and performance running well advanced.

Speaking to The Race in Tokyo this week, Mahindra team principal Frederic Bertrand said that the fact Mahindra is running behind its rivals does not necessarily mean it will be massively on the back foot after the homologation of its challenger in early October.

"I think it's easier to say [if there will be a competitive hierarchy] when you have the track time, but on our side we don't feel we would suffer so much on that side," said Bertrand. 

"Right now, simulation tools are helping a lot. What we are doing on Gen3 Evo is also helping a lot, because at the end what we do on the four-wheel drive is very close to what will be needed in the Gen4, in some areas like software, etc.

"Maybe we are hopeful that we will have a gap which is, if not fully compensated, very much closer than what we have today in the efficiency, in the way we deal with the car globally in terms of performance.

"We cannot touch the hardware, but we can go a bit deeper on some small areas. So, at the end, I don't think we will suffer so much on that side. The only risk would be if we have a problem with reliability.

"If we have an issue on the reliability side when we hit the track, then it would create a lot of delay on the performance development. And what we hope is that what we have done on simulation will give us enough knowledge and confidence in the reliability to make sure that we start very quickly to focus on performance."

The driver situation

Mortara and De Vries are set to bring what Bertrand described as 'strong stability' to Mahindra, which looks almost certain to retain the pair for a fourth season together. 

Mortara is having one of his best Formula E seasons in his eighth full campaign, having so far scored two podium positions and a brace of pole positions. He is still in title contention in sixth place in the standings, albeit now 38 points adrift of championship leader Pascal Wehrlein.

Addressing the question of keeping his two present drivers, Bertrand went short of absolutely confirming they would stay, citing the present clashes of races between Formula E and the World Endurance Championship in 2027.

"There's always reason to change and reason not to change," said Bertrand.

"Right now, the point is more that I like strong stability. But nothing is really yet fully fixed, because there are plenty of question marks on the calendar still."

That alluded to De Vries' dual role with his Toyota WEC programme. As it stands there are two clashes next season with the Spa WEC and Monaco Formula E date in May, as well as congestion with the Interlagos and Shanghai races in early July.

"There are some hopes that we can get maybe fewer clashes, but we don't have confirmation," said Bertrand, touching on the possibility that the Monaco race can be brought forward to early-May.