Up close with Formula E

[call_me_andrew]

I don't mind changing cars (actually I mind a lot, it even bothers me when MotoGP riders switch to rain bikes) so much as I mind changing cars in a live pit stop. Weren't Le Mans starts banned for safety?

[Doc Austin]

I think electric cars will be awesome once they get them fully developed. The first few years could be a disaster, but once the cars are reliable and can charge quickly we will have a great new sport. I wish this had been done in 1973 or so, back when we first knew energy was going to be a problem.

What I can tell you for a fact is that electric power systems have revolutionized RC aircraft. In the smaller sizes there is no substitute for electric power and internal combustion engines have all but disappear in high performance aerobatic planes.

In the beginning, the loss of sound was a bit disturbing because you use that as an aid to your flying, but once I learned to listen to the motor and interpret what it was doing, I came to really love the sound. It's almost like a littler turbine. It's nice to be able to go to the field and actually talk to your friends instead of screaming over some idiot endlessly tuning his IC engine. With an electric, you just hit the throttle and it goes every time.

Since I started flying electric planes in 2008, I have seen charge times for a 2200mah battery pack go from one hour down to about eight minutes! I've also seen the weight cut in half, and the price dropped from $70 down to about $6 or $7.

How all of this relates to motor racing is that we have seen all this progress made by the RC cottage industry, which doesn't have all that money for development. If you put electrics into the hands of well funded racing teams and in a competitive atmosphere, we will see quantum leaps in this technology.

I am very hopeful Formula E will succeed and I hope motorsports fans will embrace it as the future.

[Whyzars]

The biggest downside for the "one weekend a year" F1 fan is the bothersome noise and fumes.

With "E" they will be able to enjoy a caviar dipped cracker in the peace and dignified murmur of the chattering class.

Nothing but polite company, fresh air and the clink of champagne flutes.

Heaven.