A safety car on lap 35 closed the field up to allow marshals to clear debris after Alex Lynn of Virgin crashed The race restarted with two minutes to go, and di Grassi retained the lead to secure his second consecutive victory, and the eighth of his career.

For the second day running, but on a wet track, Buemi won the pole position with the fastest qualifying lap, the eleventh of his career, but he immediately lost the lead to Vergne at the start.

The 2018 New York City ePrix double header was confirmed as part of Formula E's 2017–18 series schedule by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in September 2017.

[8] Formula E arranged a partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to provide organizations in the Red Hook community with a 1,000 race day tickets to give away to local residents for free.

Venturi driver Edoardo Mortara had a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters commitment for Mercedes-Benz at the Circuit Zandvoort due to his championship position of second in that series.

Venturi's request to switch competitors was granted by the stewards through bypassing a series regulation stating any changes of driver in the final three races of the season was forbidden except in unforeseen circumstances such as the suspension of an e-licence.

[24] An untimed half hour shakedown session was held late Friday afternoon to allow teams to check the reliability of their cars and electronic systems.

[25] In the first practice session, held in warm and dusty conditions,[26] di Grassi was fastest with a 1-minute and 13.566 seconds lap he set with 200 kW (270 hp) of power late on.

Jaguar's Mitch Evans, Vergne, Daniel Abt of Audi, Bird, Dragon driver José María López, NIO's Oliver Turvey, Alex Lynn for Virgin and Techeetah's André Lotterer occupied positions three through ten.

[26][28] In the second half hour practice session, most teams used the opportunity to simulate their qualifying laps at 200 kW (270 hp) of power,[29] as several drivers had to scythe their way past traffic on the narrow circuit, and dust off the racing line reduced visibility.

[31][33] D'Ambrosio, Bird, López, Buemi, Nico Prost of e.Dams-Renault, António Félix da Costa of Andretti, Turvey, and the Audis of Abt and di Grassi completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.

[33] After second practice, Turvey was transported to the trackside medical center, and then to a hospital in Brooklyn, because he fractured the fifth metacarpal bone on his left hand; he lost control of his car while on a maximum power lap, and collided with the outside barrier at the turn 14 left-hander, causing him to miss qualifying.

[1] Sarrazin was the slowest driver to set a lap time in group qualifying after he slid sideways into the barrier lining the circuit at turn eleven; race control did not halt the session because he continued driving.

[39] The rest of the grid lined up as Piquet, López, Engel, Dillmann, Heidfeld, di Grassi, Félix da Costa, Lynn, Bird, Filippi, Rosenqvist, Sarrazin, Vergne and Lotterer.

[1] After qualifying, Turvey was withdrawn on medical grounds, and he was replaced by NIO's test and reserve driver Ma Qinghua for the Sunday race through the application of force majeure.

[41] Evans moved only a few metres from his starting slot due to a broken driveshaft,[42][43] as Buemi maintained the lead going into the first corner with his teammate Prost in second and Abt third.

[45] As both Dragon drivers delayed the field, Lynn passed Félix da Costa on the inside line,[46] while Vergne dropped to the rear so he could conserve electrical energy.

[48] Coming to the conclusion of the first lap, Buemi led Abt, Prost, the fast-starting Piquet and Dillmann as López entered the pit lane for a replacement rear wing.

[44][49] Although Lynn was uninjured and clambered out of his vehicle, the full course yellow procedure, and then the safety car was deployed to close the field up, and allow marshals to clean the track clearing and repair the barriers.

[53] Although Bird congratulated Vergne on the title, he bemoaned his powertrain's lack of energy efficiency on a longer circuit and the extra distance covered by drivers than had been observed in 2017, "we're still very proud of what we've achieved and the whole team has done an amazing job to put us in this position.

"[54] Regarding Audi's inter-team battle, Abt was unhappy over the situation and spoke of his belief that di Grassi disobeyed a team order to hold position after his teammate passed him.

"[56] Allan McNish, team principal of Audi, clarified that no instructions had been given, and revealed the decision to end the inter-team battle was made because of the potential threat from the Techeetahs in the event the safety car was dispatched.

[56] He later stated that both di Grassi and Abt were allowed to race each other unless certain circumstances prompted a strategy change, "Opinions can differ of course like they did in New York a little, but we should a day later that it was water under the bridge and we got the job done.

[24] Overnight rain saturated the track, and it recommenced just before the start of the third practice session,[60] causing several drivers to aquaplane on standing water, as they all ran on the standardised all-weather tires.

[61] Rosenqvist locked his tyres, and he removed the front wing from his car in a head-on collision with the TecPro wall at the same corner as Bird in practice's final ten minutes.

[3] In the first group, held on a damp racing surface, Sarrazin set the early pace, ahead of Dillmann (who ran deep on the run into the first corner), Filippi, and Prost.

[68] He was joined on the grid's front row by Lotterer,[70] and his teammate Vergne qualified in third after he glanced the barrier on the entry to turn five, losing more time in the track's final sector.

[71][72] The rest of the grid lined up after penalties as Evans, Piquet, Bird, Rosenqvist, Sarrazin, López, d'Ambrosio, Heidfeld, Dillmann, Filippi, Prost, Engel, Ma, Lynn, and Félix da Costa.

[3] A few hours beforehand, the event was temporarily suspended because of a lightning storm that was due to pass through Red Hook, and race organisers ordered a full evacuation of the track.

"[88] Vergne and his teammate Lotterer were fined €5,000 and incurred two penalty points on their e-licences after scrutineers found during inspection that both drivers were wearing "non-compliant underwear" during the second qualifying session, a transgression of series regulations.