BMW secured the top spot on the timesheets after day one of testing with Alex Sims going just over a tenth faster than Andre Lotterer in the DS Techeetah.
Sims, who will be making his debut in the series this year, finished with a time of 1m17.553, 0.101s ahead of Lotterer.
His BMW team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa finished in third on what was a strong day for the German team, although many of their rivals chose to concentrate on longer runs.
Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler drivers Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt confirmed their team’s position as pre-season favourites by showing strong pace to finish fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Jerome d’Ambrosio who was confirmed as a Mahindra Racing driver just this morning.
He was ahead of reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne who also indicated the potential of the Techeetah car in their first season working with DS Motorsports.
Season two champion Sebastien Buemi finished with the eighth fastest time, but new Nissan e.dams team-mate Alexander Albon did not take part with rumours circulating that he is set to join Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula 1 next season.
Jose Maria Lopez showed solid pace in the Dragon Racing car to finish ninth fastest, and Formula E new boy Felipe Massa finished an encouraging tenth for Venturi, over half a second clear of team-mate Edorado Mortara in fifteenth.
It was a slightly rougher start for Gary Paffett however as the DTM champion caused a red flag during the session, after crashing his HWA Racelab into the temporary chicane that has been installed along the main straight to better mimic the tight layout of Formula E tracks.