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  1. #11
    Senior Member MrJan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeakiwi View Post
    Tesla has already shown a demo of a battery swap quicker than a service station liquid refuel stop.
    http://youtu.be/FE81S26XG8c (starts at one minute)
    Interesting video, and certainly shows the possibilities, but a bit disingenuous to compare it to fuel. That Audi seems to have the largest fuel tank in the world (22 US gallons!!! my Focus takes about 11 UK) and to pretend like the Tesla would get even a fraction of the range is just silly. Be interesting to see where we are in 20 years though, once the technology has advanced.
    You're so beige, you probably think this signature is about someone else.

  2. #12
    Senior Member steveaki13's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bagwan View Post
    I hope it survives .
    It makes me wonder , though , when decisions like having a car swap aren't pooh poohed right off the top .
    That's wonder if it isn't supposed to make electric cars look bad from the get go .

    Add to that this loooooong break between first and second outings .
    That's enough to make me wonder what the hell they are doing all on it's own .


    But , if they have the same enthusiasm after a few more races , and they produce a good race , itself , then it could become a test bed for the future of F1 .
    Nice to see that vid from Tesla , Zeakiwi , as it certainly shows that a battery swap could be done easily , and the application of serious money involved in the series might have the change done in a few seconds if they wanted , just like the battery change for my Black and Decker cordless drill .

    If they shift to something along these lines , then it all has a chance .
    If not , I'm afraid I might be left wondering about who is pulling strings to make something that looks obvious , look unattainable .
    I agree Bagwan

    The car swapping makes the technology look poor and that Electric cars have not advanced much.

    The hype around the first round has been forgotten by the time round 2 comes along

    and personally the "all street track" calender is probably a bad idea.

    I think they could have done a better job of Formula E on its debut than they have.
    I still exist and still find the forum occasionally. Busy busy

  3. #13
    Senior Member MrJan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by steveaki13 View Post
    and personally the "all street track" calender is probably a bad idea.
    I agree. I think that the intention is to bring it into cities to bring it to the masses and attract people other than just motorsport fans. Remains to be seen if it actually works, although I think that the cycling 'Tour Series' that has run in the UK has had reasonable crowds on a similar basis. Personally I think that it detracts from Formula E more than it adds. Street tracks are always a compromise and, on the whole, just not as interesting. Electric is always going to have an uphill struggle to be seen as exciting, so they need to do something to get adrenaline into it (and playing music is not the answer).
    You're so beige, you probably think this signature is about someone else.

  4. Likes: steveaki13 (22nd October 2014)
  5. #14
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    At this point , street tracks are an advantage to them .
    Firstly , since the cars aren't all that fast , they can make them look that way in more restricted venues .

    If they were at venues away from the cities , they'd be looking at pretty poor crowds , as nobody seems to even know about all this going on , aside from us donkeys .

    It's an uphill struggle when there seems to be no cross pollination between the two series , F1 , and FE ; Never a mention where all those F1 guys went , and never even a thought to calling F1 a hybrid series .

  6. #15
    Junior Member Total_Hoon_Motorsport's Avatar
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    I very much enjoyed the new Formula E. It was different, new, refreshing. I thought th racing was fairly good considering the circuit. The concept is very good, however, I cannot see it overtaking Formula 1. Too many F1 fans are ignorant to this new formula, that being, they won't check it out. My only complaint is the mimicky gimmick of fanboost. Please don't start all these gimmicks like F1. I feel that is the way though with all these energy saving and electric ideas. This wiil provide these gimmicks. Overall though, very good. Looking forward to the next one!
    Motorsport is my passion, my life. Without motorsport I cease to exist

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  7. #16
    Senior Member journeyman racer's Avatar
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    Having thought about it further, there's no way anything will "overtake" F1. F1 is designated top level, no matter how bad it is. But, having been in discussions about V8Supercars place in Australian motorsport, it's presence amongst the Australian motorsport fans and general public, in comparison to the Bathurst 12 Hour's growing popularity, and how and why the scene is as it is. It got me thinking about all series below F1 or motorsport "jurisdictions".

    So we'll see if anyone agrees with me. Below F1, every form of motorsport is centred around one big, yearly event. So as a series, I don't see a prosperous future for it. However, had there been a one-off Electric Car WC, that could've built itself up into a good event over the next decade or two.

    The patience isn't there to do something like that. So it's stuffed.

  8. #17
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    I saw the Buenos Aires race, which was the first Formula E race that I have seen. I thought it was great. Plenty of action, plenty of familiar names, and for me there wasn't anything about it that made it less watchable than Formula 1.

    They even sound quite good with all that gear noise, and I'm sorry to say that to me they didn't really sound any worse than the current Formula 1 cars. I'm definitely going to watch the rest of the series, which is apparently being shown live on ITV over here in the UK.

  9. Likes: A FONDO (25th January 2015)
  10. #18
    Senior Member Tazio's Avatar
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    Welcome aboard mate!
    It was a fun, and entertaining race, The series is still in its infancy, but its unpredictability makes it very entertaining. At least two cars, maybe three broke their suspension on the same chicane curb (which was probably due to battery weight), and a couple guys really got screwed by the safety car, but they will get that ironed out if the series is allowed to evolve. I'm really looking forward to the Long beach race, with (very low) expectations of getting a photo of myself with Jarno, and or Nick!
    May the forza be with you

  11. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tazio View Post
    Welcome aboard mate!
    It was a fun, and entertaining race, The series is still in its infancy, but its unpredictability makes it very entertaining. At least two cars, maybe three broke their suspension .... but they will get that ironed out if the series is allowed to evolve.
    Attrition always makes things interesting.

    So far I think the series is off to a great start. I hope they can develop the cares well enough that they can get through a whole race on one battery. The car swapping thing really annoys me.

  12. #20
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    Well, theres a plan for the next 5 season.


    THey are about to announc. six to eight manufacturers that will join the series next season!
    BMW, Audi, Rimac, Mahindra, Venturi, Cosworth and Renault (Current Spec Engine is a McLaren) are the rumored ones. Volvo, Toyota, Nissan and Illmor are all interested too acording to some tweets (lol)

    For year 3, is expected to have others producing Batteries too. Sanyo, and Panasonic are the rumored ones among others. Also, is expected that every manufacturer provide batteries together with the engines.

    Chassis will remain the same till 2018. BlueBird and Dryson were trying to build chassis for year two but its not gonna happen. Also is expected to have manufacturer producing chassis. THey want to keep it very simple, like main plates + one flat adjustable wings, similar nose size and height, etc..

    Its interesting that they are planning 4wd cars! That would be awesome.

    And lets be honest.. If the future is electric, car manufacturers will be looking into Formula E. Look at McLaren producing the engines. I think theres only two manufacturers that sell cars because of racing. THey are Ferrari and McLaren.. and McL jumped into FormulaE in a Heart Beat. So.. that must means something right?

    I think WEC is a few years to start allowing Hydrogen cars, solar power, etc... So its better to F1 improve or they will get behind these Two.
    Last edited by giu canbera; 23rd January 2015 at 00:56.

  13. Likes: A FONDO (25th January 2015),Tazio (24th January 2015)

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