Formula E

[Mark]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24013661

Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm has signed a sponsorship deal with the forthcoming Formula E championship.

The FIA international motorsports body plans to launch the electric-car competition next year as an alternative to Formula 1.

Qualcomm will provide wireless-charging and augmented-reality technology to help the teams taking part and the public watching the races.

[airshifter]

Maybe this is the reason Webber is bailing out after this year.

I can see it now... "Mark your KERS... ummm... your entire motor isn't working"

"Felipe, Fernando has more voltage than you!"

[steveaki13]

Maybe this is the reason Webber is bailing out after this year.

I can see it now... "Mark your KERS... ummm... your entire motor isn't working"

"Felipe, Fernando has more voltage than you!"

Like. (instead of the like button) :p

[Robinho]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109792

its all looking quite interesting so far, will be keeping a close eye on the series once it kicks off

[Storm]

This is the first I have heard of this series....so will there be augmented "engine/motor noise" as well?

[Mark]

This is the first I have heard of this series....so will there be augmented "engine/motor noise" as well?

I shouldn't have thougt so. There's no good reason to do that.

[AndyL]

This is the first I have heard of this series....so will there be augmented "engine/motor noise" as well?

I think lack of noise is probably one of the reasons they have been able to get the city centre venues for the races.

[steveaki13]

Is it safe to have no major sound. I mean it could limit drivers knowing where others are or even affect Marshalling.

Just a thought

[Storm]

This is the first I have heard of this series....so will there be augmented "engine/motor noise" as well?

I shouldn't have thougt so. There's no good reason to do that.
As environment friendly we all would like to be, engine sounds are one of the prime reasons for liking any form of racing, is it not?

[big_sw2000]

There will not be any engine sound, hence getting the city centre races. It will be like watching a bunch of Audi's at Le Mans. Im sure it will be exciting racing, good speed. But you need noise as well

Steve

[Mark]

This is the first I have heard of this series....so will there be augmented "engine/motor noise" as well?

I shouldn't have thougt so. There's no good reason to do that.
As environment friendly we all would like to be, engine sounds are one of the prime reasons for liking any form of racing, is it not?

Not really. And it's not like there will be zero noise. The spectacle of a driver controlling a car at the limit is what I want to see.

[Bagwan]

Take away the sound of the internal combustion , and replace it with the whine of the electric motor .
Yes , it will be a big change , but I think it may be rather more exciting to hear the tires complaining a lot more .
The crowd will likely be playing a much bigger role as well , with the drivers likely able to hear them , too .

I do understand the nostalgia for the grunt as I've experienced the sound of the ten cylinder alarm clock , camping in amongst the red necks on the other side of Hulman Ave. in Indy , in 2000 .

I want to give it a chance , and see if if it makes it a different kind of exciting .

[Donney]

I will give it my best chance but the racing will have to be excellent to make up for the lack of proper noise.

[Mia 01]

Interesting!

It seems as the races are going for one hour, max. But there must be a distance also, wouldn´t it?

[Mark]

Interesting!

It seems as the races are going for one hour, max. But there must be a distance also, wouldn´t it?

Why? It's not unusual in motorsport for races to run for a time rather than first to complete a distance.

[anfield5]

Can only go for an hour because the home appliances will need to spend the next day recharging.

This series will be another two season fad that will attract no real attention of anyone and it will quietly go the way of almost every other series that has gone before.

Formula E is touted as being an Environmentally friendly race series (certainly implied, if not actully stated), but is it really any greener than normal motor racing?
Question 1 where does the electricity come from? Depending on location electricity is produced using coal fired generators that do more damage than a petrol engine.
Question 2. how are these hairdyers being transported from venue to venue? To be green they surely must be using wooden ships with cotton sails, and then horse and cart rigs, even then the exhaust pipe of a horse produces a fair amount of greenhouse gas. The biggest lump of environmental damaging waste in motorsport comes from the logistic side of the deal, not from the racing.
Question 3. How are the cars made? The manufacturing process will undoubtedly be similar to F1, IRL etc, with carbon fibre and other exotic material in the construction, hardly good for the Earth.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I don't quite share your pessimism, anfield. Your points about Formula E not being any 'greener' are true, but it's still a good showcase of how far electric cars have come. I wouldn't be surprized if they featured hydrogen fuel cells in a few years.

What I don't agree with is the '2 season fad' idea. Formula E provides something that most other series don't - it comes to the people. The Berlin race for instance will be run on the former Tempelhof airport, which is back smack in the middle of the city.

[MakinenLoeb]

I agree that electric motors are not anymore harmful, if not more harmful to the environment than an internal combustion engine. However I love racing, cars and technology in general so I am looking forward to this series. Also, I too believe that hydrogen is the future. Maybe not the near future, but the future.

[anfield5]

It will be really interesting when it rains. Water and electrickery equals heaps of blue flashes and strange noises and smells.

There have been other series that take racing to the people. A1 GP springs to mind. There were even A1 GP races in New Zealand, but that didn't last too long.

As you have guessed I am not a fan of Formula E. It seems to be just another in the long line of one make novelty racing series, in some ways I honestly hope to be proven wrong and have it see great success. Like most people I know I am wrong more often than I am right :)

The other thing I am wondering is simply where are the drivers coming from? Is it seen as a driver development series, akin to A1 GP? amd if so will F1 teams take notice, or are we expecting to see drivers like Filippe Massa strapped inside a hairdryer as a way to lengthen his career?

[Mark]

Petrol cars use electronics too you know. But your right; electric trains and trams have to stop whenever it rains.

[dj_bytedisaster]

It will be really interesting when it rains. Water and electrickery equals heaps of blue flashes and strange noises and smells.

How come all the Priuses and other hybrid cars or electric cars don't disintegrate in a fountain of sparks? And as Mark said, ever thought about how Trams still work even in torrential rain?


There have been other series that take racing to the people. A1 GP springs to mind. There were even A1 GP races in New Zealand, but that didn't last too long.

A1GP still mostly used the normal race tracks, which happen to be built in the middle of nowhere. Formula E is run in the cities, right where the people already are.


The other thing I am wondering is simply where are the drivers coming from? Is it seen as a driver development series, akin to A1 GP? amd if so will F1 teams take notice, or are we expecting to see drivers like Filippe Massa strapped inside a hairdryer as a way to lengthen his career?

Kovalainen, Glock, Kobayashi, di Grassi, Buemi, Liuzzi, Trulli, Heidfeld, Petrov, Algersuari
That's just a few people who have been pushed out of F1 recently, some for nothing else but not being able to buy a seat. Fill that up with a few youngsters and you have a full grid in no time.

[Donney]

The lack of drivers won't be the problem for sure. I guess it will be more or less like the electric cars in the Andros Trophy, it is not bad racing, just very.. quiet.

[anfield5]

Petrol cars use electronics too you know. But your right; electric trains and trams have to stop whenever it rains.

Granted Mark cars do use all sorts of electrics and electronics, but it is easy to weather proof a unit the size of a bucket, it is another thing weather proofing an entire motive system

[MakinenLoeb]

In defense of my country, the weekend was always packed and we even had a round in the final series :smokin:

[Mark]

Petrol cars use electronics too you know. But your right; electric trains and trams have to stop whenever it rains.

Granted Mark cars do use all sorts of electrics and electronics, but it is easy to weather proof a unit the size of a bucket, it is another thing weather proofing an entire motive system

There are already electric cars on the road, and you missed my example of electric trains and trams. I even have electric motors working fully submerged into my fish tank; it's really not an issue.

[big_sw2000]

Formula E page on Sound

http://www.fiaformulae.com/guide/sound

Video of Formula E noise

http://youtu.be/nX5Roi4lzVs

Steve

[donKey jote]

Formula E page on Sound

http://www.fiaformulae.com/guide/sound

Video of Formula E noise

http://youtu.be/nX5Roi4lzVs

Steve

^^like

cool ! :D

(yes I mean it... the sound of the future ! :up: )

[donKey jote]

There are already electric cars on the road, and you missed my example of electric trains and trams. I even have electric motors working fully submerged into my fish tank; it's really not an issue.

^^like :up: (hint hint ;) :andrea: )

I wouldn't drive en e-car through a river, but then again I'd think twice about driving a normal car through one too :dork:

[big_sw2000]

This one appears to be running in the wet, with out electrocuting driver and spectators.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDZ4VSFC6z0

Steve

[anfield5]

Petrol cars use electronics too you know. But your right; electric trains and trams have to stop whenever it rains.

Granted Mark cars do use all sorts of electrics and electronics, but it is easy to weather proof a unit the size of a bucket, it is another thing weather proofing an entire motive system

There are already electric cars on the road, and you missed my example of electric trains and trams. I even have electric motors working fully submerged into my fish tank; it's really not an issue.

To be honest I'm playing devils advocate a wee bit. :) , my point about rain = blue flashes was slightly tongue in cheek but I think it is still going to be a concern. Normal race cars experience problems with new technology that works fine in other applications, because motor racing pushes thing well beyond the limits they are designed to cope with.

As I said before I am not a fan of Formula E and I personally don't think it will last. But that is my opinion and my take on it. I am not wishing for it to fail and my ideas and opinions are quite often wrong, but hey.... I'm giving people something to discuss and argue about, and that can be fun

[Mark]

I think if to this point we'd had an electric racing series but they were considering a new series based around burning oil, we'd all be horrified and predict drivers regularly burning to death.

[Parabolica]

Formula E?

It sounds like a Clubbing drug from the mid 90's.

I always thought that the Formula for E was Mdma.

[anfield5]

I think if to this point we'd had an electric racing series but they were considering a new series based around burning oil, we'd all be horrified and predict drivers regularly burning to death.

Absolutely, and if the majority were in favour of oil burning, I would probably be the one speaking against it :)

[Duncan]

It will be really interesting when it rains. Water and electrickery equals heaps of blue flashes and strange noises and smells.

And yet strangely the rain doesn't seem to stop KERS from working... luckily they seem to be using something called "insulation".

I don't see why this wouldn't be a viable race series. Sure, you don't have the overwhelming noise of an IC F1 car, but they're not actually that quiet. They're very fast, and much cheaper to run than a high end IC open wheel racer; there's no engine or transmission to constantly strip down and/or replace, for starters.

I guess we'll see. But another series can't hurt.

[Doc Austin]

You guys ought to see what an electric RC airplane can do.

This will be a great series because it will force the development of fast charging high capacity batteries, something we should have been working on since 1973 when we first knew energy was going to be such a problem.

[Mark]

You guys ought to see what an electric RC airplane can do.

This will be a great series because it will force the development of fast charging high capacity batteries, something we should have been working on since 1973 when we first knew energy was going to be such a problem.

Ideally we'd see an endurance series too. In fact Le Mans brought on development of Diesel engines there is no reason they couldn't allow electric too.

The current series is just hour long races. Hopefully it can evolve to proper Grand Prix distances in time.

[dj_bytedisaster]

You guys ought to see what an electric RC airplane can do.

This will be a great series because it will force the development of fast charging high capacity batteries, something we should have been working on since 1973 when we first knew energy was going to be such a problem.

Ideally we'd see an endurance series too. In fact Le Mans brought on development of Diesel engines there is no reason they couldn't allow electric too.

The current series is just hour long races. Hopefully it can evolve to proper Grand Prix distances in time.

I think that batteries is the wrong way to go in the first place. They should have gone with hydrogen fuel cells. But hopefully that'll come in the future.

[Mark]

Well that's still a matter for debate as to what the correct direction will be, is it hydrogen, batteries, something else?

[AndyL]

Well that's still a matter for debate as to what the correct direction will be, is it hydrogen, batteries, something else?

If only there were a way to compare different vehicles against each other in some sort of competitive situation.

This is the problem with Formula E. Tightly regulated near-spec series are for mature technology, where the right answers have mostly been found. In an immature field it should be the competition that's determining the right answers, not the rule-makers.

[Mark]

Well that's still a matter for debate as to what the correct direction will be, is it hydrogen, batteries, something else?

If only there were a way to compare different vehicles against each other in some sort of competitive situation.

It'll never work...

[donKey jote]

Well that's still a matter for debate as to what the correct direction will be, is it hydrogen, batteries, something else?

If only there were a way to compare different vehicles against each other in some sort of competitive situation.

It'll never work...

how about "Jeremy'll fix it" ? :p

Cap'n Slow in the e-car,
the gnat in something else,
and Clarkson can play with some hydrogen :uhoh:

[big_sw2000]

You guys ought to see what an electric RC airplane can do.

This will be a great series because it will force the development of fast charging high capacity batteries, something we should have been working on since 1973 when we first knew energy was going to be such a problem.

Ideally we'd see an endurance series too. In fact Le Mans brought on development of Diesel engines there is no reason they couldn't allow electric too.

The current series is just hour long races. Hopefully it can evolve to proper Grand Prix distances in time.

Well we currently have this built. Not racing yet, not sure on the regs on it racing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxKdUIEECN8

Steve

[donKey jote]

2.15 sec 0-60 in a Formula Student e-soapbox...
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-seconds-st ... world.html (http://phys.org/news/2013-09-seconds-students-world.html)

[Doc Austin]

Well we currently have this built. Not racing yet, not sure on the regs on it racing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxKdUIEECN8
Awesome. That thing accelerates like a rocket ship. The torque must be astronomical. It sure sounds cool.

A lot of us didn't like the sound of an electric RC plane at first, but that was because the IC engines made so much noise and the sound of the motor was one of your senses you used to help you fly the plane. Once I had flown electrics for a while and leaned how to listen to them, I actually prefer the sound. I think that could be the way it goes with electric cars. It might take some time, but eventually people will come to accept them. Once the performance and durability exceeds an IC engine, that will be the beginning of the end of petrol racing.