Sam Bird has survived a late Safety Car to win Race 1 of the New York ePrix double-header.
Bird pulled away from Jean Eric-Vergne in the two-lap sprint to the chequered flag, with Stephane Sarrazin the final driver on the podium.
Alex Lynn took pole on debut but it was Daniel Abt who led the field away with Bird slotting into third.
Bird passed Lynn on Lap 9 and immediately set after Abt, taking over the race lead with a bold move on Lap 15.
Abt lost another position, to Vergne, just before the pit stops began, while Lynn lost several.
The front-runners ran unchanged after the pit stops, but now fifth-placed Lynn soon dropped out of the running with a mechanical problem.
Nick Heidfeld brought out the Safety Car with five of 43 laps remaining when he stopped with right-rear damage.
Bird successfully negotiated the restart to take victory, ahead of Vergne.
Abt, however, handed third position to Sarrazin with an error on the final lap, before a problem meant he was ultimately classified a lap down.
Lucas di Grassi has closed up on championship leader Sebastien Buemi, who is racing for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship this weekend, after finishing fourth
Mitch Evans retired after early contact.
The second race of the New York ePrix starts on Monday morning at 0300 AEST.
Results: FIA Formula E Championship, New York Race 1
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
| 1 | Sam Bird | Virgin | DS-Virgin | 52:29.275s |
| 2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Techeetah | Renault | +1.354s |
| 3 | Stephane Sarrazin | Techeetah | Renault | +4.392s |
| 4 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | ABT Schaeffler | +6.155s |
| 5 | Loic Duval | Dragon | Penske | +8.428s |
| 6 | Oliver Turvey | NextEV | NextEV TCR | +8.952s |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | e.dams | Renault | +9.321s |
| 8 | Nico Prost | e.dams | Renault | +10.036s |
| 9 | Robin Frijns | Andretti | Andretti | +11.019s |
| 10 | Adam Carroll | Jaguar | Jaguar | +12.073s |
| 11 | Nelson Piquet Jr | NextEV | NextEV TCR | +12.977s |
| 12 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Andretti | Andretti | +13.341s |
| 13 | Tom Dillmann | Venturi | Venturi | +16.337s |
| 14 | Daniel Abt | Abt | ABT Schaeffler | +1 lap |
| 15 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mahindra | Mahindra | +1 lap |
| DNF | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | Mahindra | Retirement |
| DNF | Maro Engel | Venturi | Venturi | Retirement |
| DNF | Alex Lynn | Virgin | DS-Virgin | Retirement |
| DNF | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Dragon | Penske | Retirement |
| DNF | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | Jaguar | Retirement |
Championship Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
| 1 | Sebastien Buemi | 157 |
| 2 | Lucas di Grassi | 137 |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 86 |
| 4 | Nico Prost | 76 |
| 5 | Sam Bird | 72 |
| 6 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 70 |
| 7 | Nick Heidfeld | 63 |
| 8 | Jose Maria Lopez | 50 |
| 9 | Daniel Abt | 46 |
| 10 | Nelson Piquet Jr | 33 |
| 11 | Oliver Turvey | 26 |
| 12 | Loic Duval | 19 |
| 13 | Robin Frijns | 18 |
| 14 | Stephane Sarrazin | 17 |
| 15 | Mitch Evans | 16 |
| 16 | Maro Engel | 16 |
| 17 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 10 |
| 18 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | 10 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | 6 |
| 20 | Esteban Gutierrez | 5 |
| 21 | Adam Carroll | 5 |
| 22 | Tom Dillmann | 4 |
| 23 | Mitch Evans | 3 |
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