You've raced in just about every series outside of the US, and a few in the US. So from a sponsorship point of view, do you feel like Formula E has done a better job of the other series to support its drivers and get your name out there to the fans?
On this side of it, they've done a good job but nothing spectacular. What I think is different is that there's much more appeal for sponsors now because Formula E is much more modern than the other series. The approach is interactive with the Fanboost vote, the way the stream live from the TV, the short format of the race, the technology, we're doing something positive for the environment - all of that means the sponsors are closer to us.
If Formula 1 sponsors are Oil & Gas, Rolex, and venture capitalists, then what would you say is analogous to Formula E?
We can have Rolex and Venture Capitalists, even oil! Most of the countries still need oil to produce electricity. People have to understand that we are not selling electricity here. We are not hippies! We are promoting a innovative technology that will change people's mobility for the future, for the better. When you go running on the road you don't come back home with that feeling that you've breathed a lot of CO2 from exhaust.
We are moving the technology forward in the way that your cell phone can last maybe a week without charging. That's how battery tech should go. That's the mentality that people sometimes misunderstand about Formula E - we are not a Prius. We are far away from that! We are not a series for the grandmother or to move slow. We are exactly the opposite - we are here to prove these race cars. They are electric, they're sexy, they're fast, they have the range, we are just at the very beginning but the potential is very big in the next 3-5 years to increase the appeal for innovative technology.
So tell Americans - you're not here to snub the big, loud, V8 engines, or even the V6 Turbo in an F1 car - you're here to show what else can be done in addition to these?
Yeah, we are here to show them what they will be driving in 20 or 30 years - or if they're conservative, 40 or 50 years. That's technology at its prime.
Lucas Di Grassi tells Danielle Crespo that Formula E's green technology message to the United States is one of evolution rather than revolution.