The world's first electric car racing series is planning to add a driverless championship in 2016-17 season as part of its support package.

Formula E, now in its second season, said in a statement on Friday that the new "Roborace" series would be developed in partnership with investment company Kinetik.

The aim was to "provide a competitive platform for the autonomous driving solutions that are now being developed by many large industrial automotive and technology players as well as top tech universities."

Formula E's current championship started in October this year and runs to July in 2016, meaning any new series would be part of their third season.

The plan would be for Roborace to take place before each Formula E round, using the same circuits in major cities worldwide with 10 teams each fielding two driverless cars.