Nissan has its Season 13 driver pairing: Oliver Rowland stays, and Zane Maloney moves in. Together they will carry Nissan’s campaign into the GEN4 era of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the most significant technical reset the series has seen since it introduced GEN3 machinery.
Rowland’s continuation is the steadier half of the story. The Brit is entering his fourth straight season with the Nissan Formula E Team and his seventh overall with the Japanese manufacturer, having first joined as a rookie in Season 5. His Season 11 Drivers’ World Championship is the program’s highest point, and last season he added six podiums including a Monaco victory on his way to fourth in the standings. A multi-year agreement keeps him in the car beyond Season 13.
Maloney is the new variable. The Barbadian driver arrives in his third Formula E season, having spent his first two campaigns with a different team. His résumé includes top-10 finishes in São Paulo, Monaco, and Tokyo in 2025/26, and before Formula E he posted 11 podiums and two wins across the 2023 and 2024 Formula 2 seasons, finishing fourth in the championship in his final F2 year. Pace was never the question with Maloney; the question was always whether a top manufacturer would give him the infrastructure to convert it.
Now one has.
The backdrop is the GEN4 car, which makes the timing of this pairing particularly interesting. Race power climbs from 300 kW to 450 kW, and Attack Mode output rises from 350 kW to 600 kW. Active All-Wheel Drive arrives alongside that power increase, adding grip that the series says will allow for significantly higher cornering speeds. It is the kind of wholesale performance shift that tends to redistribute the competitive order, at least in the early races, and it gives a driver like Maloney a genuine reset point rather than a deficit to close.
Rowland framed it plainly: a big step in performance is coming, and he is excited for it. Team principal Tommaso Volpe described the pairing as experience and youth, with Maloney bringing two seasons of Formula E knowledge into an environment built around a champion. Maloney, for his part, noted that Nissan was winning the championship when he entered the series, making this move a clear step up from where he started.
Pre-season testing is scheduled for Circuito del Jarama in Spain from November 16–20, giving both drivers their first extended runs in the GEN4 machinery before the season opens.
Nissan was the first manufacturer to commit to the GEN4 era, signing on through 2030 ahead of the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix in March 2024. The team enters Season 13 as defending Drivers’ champions, though Rowland’s fourth-place finish last season suggests the title defense in GEN3 did not go as planned. GEN4 offers the clean sheet both drivers are counting on.
Maloney watched Rowland win Formula 2 races before either of them reached Formula E. Now they share a garage. That dynamic either accelerates Maloney’s development or complicates it, and the answer will show up in qualifying sheets and race-day splits before long.
Source: Nissan. Images courtesy of Nissan.
