Formula E is going to call on all the brains its racers can muster says Team Mahindra’s Karun Chandhok.

Chandhok will race alongside teammate Bruno Senna – nephew of the legendary F1 racer – in the international electric car series.

He told ELN: “The car feels quite balanced, the energy recovery stuff is really quite complicated so you really need to drive it with your brain fully engaged.”

He says the lack of sound makes it a “completely different” driving experience.

Chandhok adds: “There’s so much going on with all the switches and the steering wheel and the strategy of how to use the energy you’ve got.”

Tactically rationing your energy is going to feature in the races, he suggests: “Don’t forget we’ve all got the same battery so we all start from 100% of the same. How you use it at different times of the race is going to make the difference.”

Each driver will swap between two cars because the batteries can’t last for an hour long race.

Asked if he worries about dashing from one vehicle to the next mid-race, Chandhok says: “That is going to be tricky. Luckily I’ve been racing sports cars at Le Mans and all sorts before so I’m used to jumping in and out of cars quickly.”

He jokes, “I just hope I don’t flat on my face at one point!”

There’s one official test race at Donington Park left in August – free if viewers register in advance – before the FIA Formula E Championships begins in Beijing on Saturday 13 September 2014.