The extraction process to make batteries for electric vehicles has traditionally required huge amounts of mining which has been found to pollute water supplies as well causing droughts due to water usage.

Following a record-breaking Formula E World Championship season, where more than 381 million viewers engaged with races, organisers are driven to find more sustainable operation methods prior to the 2023 competition which begins in Mexico City on January 14.

"We have done a lot of work with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on the battery of the new car, the generation three, that we are going to use in just a couple of weeks' time," said Formula E's sustainability director Julia Pallé at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt.

"The other sustainability element with the battery is actually where the minerals are coming from and the end of life.

"That is a big topic from a public perspective, that is a concern.

"For generation three, the batteries are even more powerful and are also integrating minerals that are responsibly and sustainably sourced.

"That means grade-A certification of the suppliers which was very important to us because we are clearly conscious and aware of the fact that there are many different ways of doing mining.

For Pallé, it is vital that the life cycle of these batteries are extended with reuse and recycling a priority.

"What is fantastic is that at the end of each season we have to change the cells because the racing is so demanding that we are refurbishing the cells and the minerals are recycled from season to another," she continued.

"This means that in 2023 the minerals will be used in 2025 and so on, so every other year we are going to be reusing the minerals and at the end everything is going to be recycled and reinjected.

"This is how you change the face of an industry because the people that are manufacturing our batteries are Williams Advanced Engineering.

"These guys are changing their processes to adapt to our requests to formulate this new car.

"That's how, from the systemic perspective, we are changing the way we operate so the battery issues are being addressed and turned into solutions and opportunities."

It is not just the batteries that will be more sustainable in the Gen3 cars.

Linen and recycled carbon fibre will be used in bodywork construction as well as recycled carbon fibre from retired Gen2 cars.

This is claimed to reduce the carbon footprint of the production of Gen3 bodywork by more than 10 per cent.

Natural rubber and recycled fibres will also make up 26 per cent of the new cars' tyres while the carbon footprint of Gen3 cars has been measured from the design phase to ensure all reduction measures are taken to reduce environmental impact.