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Forum Frenzy: F1 to Go Electric with FIA Formula E Championship to Launch in 2014

By Core Jr - July 5, 2013

in Forum Frenzy | Events | Cars

At risk of writing about a subject that I know very little about, I'll defer to the experts in Discussion Boards, where member sanjy009 recently posted news of the FIA Formula E Championship. While electric motorcycles have been getting some buzz in the world of motorsports for some time now—check out our April 2012 profile of BRD Motorcycles—this marks a major step in automotive racing.

Formula E is a new FIA championship featuring Formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy. It represents a vision for the future of the motor industry over the coming decades.

FEH, the new promoter, has as anchor investor London-based entrepreneur Enrique Bañuelos, and as CEO and shareholder former MEP and racing team owner Alejandro Agag, who has a long experience in the motor sport business. Also associated with the project are Lord Drayson, Managing Partner of Drayson Racing Technologies, and Eric Barbaroux, Chairman of the French electric automotive company "Electric Formula."

Demonstration runs of the Formula E cars will start in 2013, followed by the championship in 2014 with an objective of 10 teams and 20 drivers participating in the competition. The races will be ideally staged in the heart of the world's leading cities, around their main landmarks.

Sanjy009 points out that the most interesting detail in the brief is that "pit stop[s] will involve a change of car: when the battery runs out, the driver will make a pit stop, then will run 100 metres to climb into a recharged car," to which Eddison responds:I'd rather the formula be that they use one car and the batteries are changed during a pit stop, like tires and adding fuel. By changing cars, I think they're trying to promote electric car share in cities, as it appears all the races will be run in temporary city circuits.

In a racing environment, giving the engineers the challenge of figuring out new and clever e-innovations is probably the fastest way to solve some of the real world challenges of electric cars. But the formula needs to allow them to explore... and spend money.It so happens that Tesla Motors has been working on a solution to this very problem; NURB, who agrees that "the change of cars seems like a bit of a cop out," shared a link to a timely announcement from Elon Musk about the 90-second battery-change option for Tesla owners:

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IGJ

11 years ago

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Interesting project, but please stop telling us that it is emissions free. The manufacture of the components, especially the batteries has many emissions and pollutants. The electricity to charge the batteries has to be generated somewhere, usually at a power station, with the consequent emissions.
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grigoriou

11 years ago

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Let's assume that this is an audi A4 2.0 TDI. It has a range of 760 miles and needs 4 minutes. That makes 32 seconds of stop for every 100 miles.Tesla S has a range of 260 miles and needs 1.5 minutes. that is 34 seconds for every 100 miles. Close enough but far from twice as fast as Mr. Musk claims.
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William D'Emilio, Jr.

11 years ago

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well they have half the formula correct...now all they have to do is have F1 hybrid and they'll have all the markets covered !! maybe the press will call it the electric circus..perhaps switching on a few mental light bulbs in the process !!! n'est pas ??
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paul

11 years ago

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"This idea -- pull your Tesla into a service bay and swap the depleted battery for a new one in less time than it takes to fill conventional car with gas -- was my immediate reaction to the Elon Musk vs the NYTimes debacle. I didn't specify 90 seconds but I think they're just showing off there.

The fact that they now claim to have built this capability into the cars from the start has a distinct whiff of bovine exhaust. If they have they would never have trumpeted the SuperCharger stations as the definitive solution while keeping this a secret. They may have designed easily removable batteries into the cars but the swap and go system? Eh, I'm not buying it.

To me this is actually better and Tesla could sell it that way. If every battery swap gets you the latest battery technology, giving your 10 year old Tesla the same benefits as the very newest one, I think that would be a huge selling point. It wouldn't hurt sales, as I don't see anyone who owns one deferring his purchase of a new one because he can get the newest battery for free.

Well done, Tesla. This is the smarter move, for the company and it's customers."

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