The “zero-emission” electric Formula E is intended to be the improbable link between motorsport and an eco-responsible program. And it works!
Manufacturers are praising the discipline, pilots are developing a taste for it and people are starting to take an interest in it.
Everyone knows Formula 1 and its ultra-sporty cars with sharp lines. Formula E, a kind of formula 1 that runs on electricity, has not yet acquired the same notoriety. The championship is only in its sixth season, when its oldest child turns 70.
Either way, for the average viewer, appearances can be deceiving. The two competitions have many things in common. They use fairly similar cars: aggressive lines, non-faired wheels, rear engine and, in both cases, the pilot remains in the open.
The shape is therefore quite similar, especially since it is the International Automobile Federation (FIA) that pulls the strings in both cases.
Barely caricaturing, we can say that between a Formula 1 and a Formula E the only thing really close is the name.
If the cars in Formula E use electric motors” zero emission “and carry batteries for energy storage, those of F1, on the contrary, are propelled by thermal blocks and therefore polluting, more precisely V6 turbo hybrids , since 2014.
High-level objectives
Formula E nevertheless fosters high ambitions. This championship was conceived as a vector to accelerate the transition of our modern societies towards“ zero emission ”cars. This competition therefore has the ambition to make the future cleaner, healthier.
A noble cause!
To succeed in this challenge, this discipline is working to improve electrical technology, in the hope that the progress generated in the race will ultimately benefit mass-market vehicles.
The technologies they use today are likely to be found in production cars four or five years from now. In the future, it would like that consumers tend to buy an electric car not for the aids associated with it, but for its intrinsic qualities, for its performance.
Manufacturers: It’s traffic a jam
The field has 12 teams and 24 srivers. The big international manufacturers are jostling to enter the discipline. There are 10 of them, much more than in Formula 1. This season, Porsche and Mercedes have joined the field.
The list of teams:
- Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler (Audi Schaeffler), Germany.
- BMW i Andretti Motorsport (BMW), United States.
- DS Techeetah (DS Automobiles), China.
- Envision Virgin Racing (Audi Schaeffler), Great Britain.
- GEOX Dragon (Penske), United States.
- Mahindra Racing (Mahindra), India.
- Mercedes-Benz EQ (Mercedes-Benz), Germany.
- NIO 333 FE Team (NIO), China.
- Nissan e.dams (Nissan), France.
- Panasonic Jaguar Racing (Jaguar), Great Britain.
- TAG Heuer Porsche (Porsche), Germany.
- ROKiT venturi Racing (Mercedes-Benz), Monaco.
Impossible mission ?
Like Tom Cruise before it, Formula E has accepted a “(almost) impossible mission”: to transform a motor sport championship into an eco-responsible discipline… Good luck! Indeed, the race for ecology is about what Pol Pot is for human rights: a very bad student.
To be in keeping with its commitments, Formula E has started sweeping in front of its door. To “get green”, this discipline has made original choices with, in particular, an identical single-seater model attributed to all the teams.
Formula E is also now turning into an attractive gambling commodity, as evidenced by the many betting tips created to accommodate the championship.