Up close with Formula E

[Mark]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24918209

[Tazio]

Interesting video Mark. It should be a fun series, but I dont like the air foils on the wheels. It reminds me of Indy cars.

[airshifter]

Looks to be interesting stuff. With what appear to be high performance street tires (with treads at the very least) and in the instant torque of the electric motors they should be a handful to drive. I'm wondering if they will have torque limiters or such?

[TheFamousEccles]

Interesting stuff. I like the low downforce aero configuration, and that the driver will have to handle a lot of torque through what are effectively road tyres. Not sure about the "push to pass" thingo, but lets wait and see how it goes. Is there any word on TV broadcasting?

[555-04Q2]

Driver, "I've stopped at turn 7."

Pit wall, "What happened? You crash or mechanical failure?"

Driver, "Neither. Bloody batteries are flat mate!"

[airshifter]

Also of note was the mention of two cars per driver. I wonder what the reasoning is there?


Push to pass followed by limp home mode?

Drivers limping into the pits on solar cells?

Positioning on track to jockey for electricity transmitted from the stands?

Intentional late braking to recapture more braking energy?


Back to being serious, it does sound very interesting. With the limits on KERS and the huge braking forces of these and even lesser classes of cars, I'm wondering what the energy consumption per lap will be. Also of note is the fact that the wheel has a shifter on it, so my guess would be that even with the motors they will be trying to maintain the most efficient rev ranges as much for "economy" as power.

[555-04Q2]

Also of note was the mention of two cars per driver. I wonder what the reasoning is there?


Push to pass followed by limp home mode?

Drivers limping into the pits on solar cells?

Positioning on track to jockey for electricity transmitted from the stands?

Intentional late braking to recapture more braking energy?


Back to being serious, it does sound very interesting. With the limits on KERS and the huge braking forces of these and even lesser classes of cars, I'm wondering what the energy consumption per lap will be. Also of note is the fact that the wheel has a shifter on it, so my guess would be that even with the motors they will be trying to maintain the most efficient rev ranges as much for "economy" as power.

The way I look at this formula, it will be better to drive at an average speed with low energy consumption than to go flat out and use a massive amount of energy. I suppose it depends on the number of laps they will do and the range of the cars which I'm sure they would have taken into account. But this could land up being an eco run series if they not careful.

Top Gear showed how a car that can theoretically do 200 miles can be flat after just 20 odd if driven to the limits!

[Koz]

So um, why 2 cars per driver?

Is this going to be something like...

Start with fully charged car #1, drive around as long as you can... Limp to pits get into the car #2 and hope it lasts till the end of the race??

[Mark]

Two cars does seem odd. If the cars cannot manage the distance, then have 2x shorter races like they do in other series?

[555-04Q2]

At the end of the day, don't care what anyone says, nothing beats the good old internal combustion engine for plain old practicality and reliability!

Is there no info on how long the races are going to be and/or the range of the cars?