TAG Heuer keeps turbo time, on and off the track

The high-pitched whine of Formula E electric race cars will be heard on the streets of Cape Town on 25 February as the city becomes a new host location for season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The new Gen3 all-electric single-seater cars are said to be more powerful than ever, promising an exhilarating experience.

While the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team with their Porsche 99X Electric are relative newcomers to the championships, TAG Heuer has been the official timekeeper and a founding partner of the “high emotions, zero emissions” event since its inception in 2014. Sport is in the TAG Heuer DNA. It has a long history with motorsport, dating back to the dash-mounted Heuer chronographs of the early 1900s and captured in those iconic wristwatch designs of the 1960s.

The new generation Connected E4 is the obvious timekeeper for Formula E with its impressive processing speed, slimmer Carrera-inspired case design featuring softer curved lines, and improved comfort. Like the Gen3 race cars, the E4 is more powerful than its predecessor, with Bluetooth 5.0 ensuring lightning-fast data transfer and syncing speed to other devices, and up to 30% more battery life. Essentially, though, this luxury wearable is the perfect companion for an active life away from the race track. A constellation of satellites transmits positioning and timing data while you’re striving to improve your personal best, and the addition of Galileo tracking means data gathering is even more precise — as I discovered during training sessions in the swimming pool at my local Virgin Active, where the recording of time and average strokes per lap was remarkably accurate given the indoor arena.

The addition of a fifth sensor on the caseback ensures the accurate reading of your vitals, while the health-and-wellness app tracks steps and calories. The E4 also has an altimeter to record changes in altitude. With the release of the gorgeous new black PVD-coated titanium Sport Edition (pictured) for “committed athletes”, there is a software update that includes a new “Trail & Hiking” app for runners and hikers who prefer mountainous terrain.

Powered by Wear OS by Google, the E4 offers numerous invaluable services to manage your digital life, if required. Designed with high-intensity activities in mind, a sapphire glass touch screen protects the crystal-clear OLED display (454x454 pixels, 326ppi), which facilitates the easy glide between digital watch faces, agendas, live weather feed, and TAG- or third-party-approved apps such as Spotify (offline version), with a display that allows intuitive engagement with the tiny keyboard. The Sports app includes simple guided or custom workouts by star athletes such as Naomi Osaka.

The highly-praised Golf app now has access to over 40 000 courses globally. Like the most conscious among us, TAG Heuer recognises that everything is connected, so, in a further demonstration of its commitment to planetary well-being, its Connected Trade-In programme offers store credits for older models and accessories, which are then dismantled to separate out the reusable materials.

TAG Heuer Connected E4 42mm, from R32 600, Sport Edition 45mm, R47 500, tagheuer.com or TAG Heuer Boutiques 021 421 8539 and 011 784 7422. For Cape Town E-Prix info and ticket sales, visit capetowneprix.com