DiCaprio Hangs Up Prius Keys In Favour Of Formula E Team Venturi

Hollywood A-lister, Django Unchained star and Toyota Prius owner Leonardo DiCaprio has co-founded a Formula E racing team with Venturi Automobiles.

Environmentalist DiCaprio's venture with Venturi - the 10th and last team to sign on the Formula E dotted line - will help boost people's interest in EVs as well as raise the race series' profile.

DiCaprio said of the series and team:

"The future of our planet depends on our ability to embrace fuel-efficient, clean-energy vehicles."

Venturi Grand Prix has shown tremendous foresight in their decision to create an environmentally friendly racing team, and I am happy to be a part of this effort."

The new all-electric racing series kicks off in September 2014 and will feature 10 street races until the first season comes to a close in June 2015.

Formula E cars will be limited to 180bhp, but feature a push-to-pass button, which temporarily allows up to 280bhp of maximum power.

If these early tests courtesy of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E are anything to go by, DiCaprio might well hang up the keys to his Prius.

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