1930 replies to this topic

[eronrules]

there seemed to be no thread for this up-coming racing series, so decided to open one with some hot news.


Rome signs up for Formula E - Pitpass



rome has become the second city to welcome Formula E after Rio di Janeiro in 2014. Also a large no. of cities are interested in hosting the 'E-Prix'.

some stats regarding Formula E

-It will be run by Formula E Holdings (FEH), a consortium of investors led by the Spanish billionaire Enrique Banuelos, who made his fortune in real estate and agribusiness.
-inagural season in 2014
-10 races in the first season
-Mclaren will design and build the powertrain in consortium with Spark Racing Technology (SRT)
-It's an open championship with designers/manufacturers encouraged to bring forth own designs.
-42 cars have been ordered to SRT for inagural 2014 season.

you can judge the Actual sound of the car with this video.

Youtube - Formula E EF01, the electric F1 racing demonstration in the streets of Moscow

promo for the series --

promo - youtube

promo 2 - formula e in rome - youtube

Also, this maybe slightly off-topic but relevant Regards to Electric racing vehicles

youtube - Toyota Electric Car Nurburgring Speed Record Video (7m 47.794s)

Edited by eronrules, 04 December 2012 - 11:52.

[packapoo]

This is a joke. Right?

(With logistics like this necessitates, environmentally friendly? Really!)

[ClubmanGT]

This is a joke. Right?

(With logistics like this necessitates, environmentally friendly? Really!)

F1 has been carbon neutral for about a decade now if I'm not mistaken.

[Richard T]

A Swedish newspaper reported a while back that my home town Stockholm was in the frame to organise a event in 2014 or '15.

[eronrules]

well i wouldn't count it as a joke, this series has a future, if the big name racing teams devotes a little of their resources to enter in it, think of it as big teams Ladies cup or reserve cup. it can be on the same par as GP2 as a climbing ladder for youngstars.

also , i think this series has a future in US too, if u look at the prias driving demograph and go green campaign going in places like california for example, this series can market on that potential. technically, electric motors are mighty torqy and should be fast, downside is ofcourse powersupply. but there too is glimer of hope as supercapacitors may replace bulky batteries for more instantaneous power. so future is good ... If FIA doesn't **** it up that is.

[rhukkas]

It only has a future if anybody actually watches it.

[eronrules]

It only has a future if anybody actually watches it.

touche, well if FIA can market it, like perhaps giving it some airtime before a GP , cause as far as i know, the races will be not longer than 30 mins. so perhaps they can sweep the track.

anyway, some videos relating to Formula E

you can judge the sound issuse with this video.
Youtube - Formula E EF01, the electric F1 racing demonstration in the streets of Moscow


promo for the series --

promo - youtube

promo 2 - formula e in rome - youtube

[uffen]

That video clip has convinced me to never, ever, watch Formula E.

[eronrules]

That video clip has convinced me to never, ever, watch Formula E.

TBH, this car is a tad louder than Audi's leman Diesel cars at speed.

[TheWilliamzer]

Sounds like a wall drill...

[Shiroo]

that "engine" "sound". sweet jesus

[eronrules]

that "engine" "sound". sweet jesus

TBH, that whine is actually from the GB, not the motor. Although, why it has a GB to begin with is baffling.

Edited by eronrules, 04 December 2012 - 12:25.

[Brandz07]

I'm not sure if I want to watch it, but after watching that clip I've been banned by my girlfriend from watching it anyway.. The 'engine' sound is that bad.

[Peter Perfect]

TBH, that whine is actually from the GB, not the motor. Although, why it has a GB to begin with is baffling.

Yeah, that's just weird.

The sound balance sounds completely off in the video. I thought it'd sound more like ->

[BullHead]

there seemed to be no thread for this up-coming racing series, so decided to open one with some hot news.

http://forums.autosp...howtopic=153447

http://forums.autosp...howtopic=177282


A general Formula E thread is a good idea though, so let's go with this one....
I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes myself.
Electric racing is a novel experience IMO both for the driver and spectators, just the whistle of the wind and screeching of tyres...
Drivers can actually hear the crowd....

Does anyone know how fast these things are expected to go? or will be capable of going?

[eronrules]

http://forums.autosp...howtopic=153447

http://forums.autosp...howtopic=177282


A general Formula E thread is a good idea though, so let's go with this one....
I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes myself.
Electric racing is a novel experience IMO both for the driver and spectators, just the whistle of the wind and screeching of tyres...
Drivers can actually hear the crowd....

Does anyone know how fast these things are expected to go? or will be capable of going?

220-250KPH
0-100KPH in 3 sec or less

[eronrules]

ESPN talks to Alejandro Agag - CEO of Formula E Holdings - following the announcement of Rome as one of the host cities for the new championship which will launch in 2014

Can you tell us where any more of those may be?

We are announcing two races in the US - in really big cities in the US - and it's really exciting because this championship is really catching a lot of traction in the United States and their passion for electric vehicles and clean mobility is very high there, we are realising. We are announcing a big capital, probably the biggest in Asia, so these will be the next announcements and then we have other cities coming up in Europe and in other places. But the next ones will be two in the US and one in Asia.

What do you think the championship's biggest challenge is going to be?
..... The second challenge is to produce fast and exciting cars, and that challenge is also quite well under way with our alliance with McLaren for the powertrains. We will make another public announcement of an alliance very soon on the terms of the batteries and the battery supplier is also going to be a very large, global company. So those are the two main challenges and I think we are working well on both of those.

[b]
You know from your own personal experience how costs can get so high even in GP2 level; what sort of budgets are you targeting for a team in Formula E?

..... we're right now in the discussions of exactly how much but it shouldn't exceed a figure of $5 million as the absolute maximum for running a team for one year.

..... (follow the link)

[gm914]

Drivers can actually hear the crowd....

a) booing?
b) muttering to themselves?
c) leaving the circuit?

Think its more important for the crowds to hear the car than vice versa.

[BullHead]

a) booing?
b) muttering to themselves?
c) leaving the circuit?

Is that all you do at a track?

I'm just saying it will be quite an experience in it's difference to most motorsport. Not suggesting that all motorsport should follow suit....

[Peter Perfect]

220-250KPH
0-100KPH in 3 sec or less

Any guesses to how far they'll be able to go though? For me that's a key question. If they can only do 10 laps it's going to be a marketing nightmare.

[eronrules]

Any guesses to how far they'll be able to go though? For me that's a key question. If they can only do 10 laps it's going to be a marketing nightmare.

http://eetweb.com/ne...-racing-111612/

Formulec cars run on lithium batteries and their specs include a top speed of 250 km/hr, an ability to go from 0 to 100 km/hr in three seconds, and lap times close to that of Formula 3 cars.

Q: How fast do you suppose a driver could hop out of one of these and into another car?

The only problem is that the cars are good for just a 20-minute race on a single charge and take about 1.5 hours to charge up. Races will only be about 40 minutes long and will call for a pit stop in which the driver hops out of one car and into a second fully charged vehicle to finish the race.

Edited by eronrules, 04 December 2012 - 20:25.

[Peter Perfect]

http://eetweb.com/ne...-racing-111612/

That's pretty disappointing to be honest. The car change reinforces the view that electric cars are rubbish as opposed to pumping them up as high performance vehicles.

[eronrules]

That's pretty disappointing to be honest. The car change reinforces the view that electric cars are rubbish as opposed to pumping them up as high performance vehicles.

but that was all speculation, we don't yet know what actually is on the R&D side. we'll need more concrete info from the organizers in the upcoming months. perhaps they can make a sliding battery pack like the one Used in KERS unit, only externally removable during pit stops

this is from Magneti marelli webpage on kers unit, see the battery pack on the left

[gm914]

Is that all you do at a track?

I'm just saying it will be quite an experience in it's difference to most motorsport. Not suggesting that all motorsport should follow suit....

Not at all. But you have to agree when you're at a racing event, you expect some kind of sensory overload.
The brutal sound, the smell of race fuel, the thunder in your chest.

That'll all be absent here. Not trying to bring you down, i just don't see it as much of an experience is all.

[eronrules]

Not at all. But you have to agree when you're at a racing event, you expect some kind of sensory overload.
The brutal sound, the smell of race fuel, the thunder in your chest.

That'll all be absent here. Not trying to bring you down, i just don't see it as much of an experience is all.

like leman with TDI audis or Tour de france??? get real mate, real fans love racing first.

[gm914]

like leman with TDI audis or Tour de france??? get real mate, real fans love racing first.

WTF Tour De France? I'm taking auto racing.

And I do like the Audis. Still internal combustion though. But give me an Audi or a Corvette at LeMans, I know which one engages the senses more.

Tour De France lol.

[Red17]

WTF Tour De France? I'm taking auto racing.

And I do like the Audis. Still internal combustion though. But give me an Audi or a Corvette at LeMans, I know which one engages the senses more.

Tour De France lol.

Maybe he means the GT Tour series in France, I think it was called Tour de France as well.

[Red17]

That's pretty disappointing to be honest. The car change reinforces the view that electric cars are rubbish as opposed to pumping them up as high performance vehicles.

I too don't understand why electric cars need to be »different looking».
Fine, car companies like the electric road cars to stand out. But this is racing, there is no need for odd looks that will turn off fans. Just get a F2 chassis and be done with it. Sooner or later Formula 1 will abandon combustion, was that not the idea behind the concept?

[wheelock]

Love it!
Like a big RC car, sounds the same too.
Love to see a series with huge power and pit stops to change saddle packs evey 10 mins, crazy!
Electric motor performance will slaugher ic engines in the end.

[TecnoRacing]

Not interested in this series....but I do like that Bt-55-ish bump in front of the cockpit

Edited by fer312t, 04 December 2012 - 21:42.

[Risil]

That's pretty disappointing to be honest. The car change reinforces the view that electric cars are rubbish as opposed to pumping them up as high performance vehicles.

Couple of heat races would probably be a better idea. Isn't 20 minutes about how long a WTCC race lasts, anyway?

[UPRC]

Great, another racing series. How many do we need?

[jondon]

Sorry, not for me, it sounds like a beefed up electric forklift.

It probably will not actually impact television ratings quite so much as track attendance. People visit the track to feel their sternum vibrate and eardrums flutter to the tamed aggression of a finely tuned engine and the smell of molten rubber and exhaust.
I would be interested to know what the environmental impact will be from the manufacture and disposal of the batteries used.
Also the impact of the generation of the electrical power to charge these batteries. As for environmentalists, will they have calls for boycotts of races in countries where nuclear power is part of the national grid?
Just imagine, depending on the countries visited, the power could come from oil, coal, peat, gas, nuclear....

More green than the internal combustion engine? Methinks not.

[Crusoe]

I don't understand all the gushing about this formula. Finally we might see an open wheel series where actual innovation is allowed, I for one look forward to it.

[Rubens Hakkamacher]

also , i think this series has a future in US too, if u look at the prias driving demograph and go green campaign going in places like california for example, this series can market on that potential.

It can't market that at all. Completely unrelated.

Electric consumer cars don't exist because they're *entertaining*, but because they're *practical*.

Car racing is not about being practical, and completely about being entertaining.

It's not all about the sound, but if it visually does not offer anything new - which it doesn't - being quiet has nothing to do with why cars thrill people.

It baffles me that this is even on the table. But then, I understand Metallica is making a piano record featuring Lou Reed, so I could be completely out of my mind. But wait, this is the same brain that noticed this morning that the President of the United States gave a speech yesterday about how great Led Zeppelin was. Did I imagine that....?

*Quiet* race cars?????

Really????

Put tires on them that are twice as wide, give them enough torque that it *looks* like a cartoon when they accelerate - then I'll be interested, otherwise - why not just watch F1 with the sound turned off?

Make F1 all electric, wide open rules. Otherwise, treat F1 as it is - an anachronism that is entertainment, keep it loud and strong. Formula E has to offer something *entertainment* wise to draw a crowd; what it lacks in sound it will have to make up for visually. Watching the Audi LMP was not as thrilling as the GT Corvettes in ALMS - for that matter, if you were at the wrong place on a track, you might only get a glimpse of it after it snuck up and had already passed you.

Not as entertaining as hearing an F1 car going through the gears a mile away before it gets to you. Frakking frak, what is wrong with you people????

Quiet race cars??? Cars with smaller displacements than my Celica, less hp than Indy cars sans KERS, and now you want me to "experience" a car that makes my clothes washer sound exciting???? WTF?

[Sardukar]

It can't market that at all. Completely unrelated.

Electric consumer cars don't exist because they're *entertaining*, but because they're *practical*.

Car racing is not about being practical, and completely about being entertaining.

It's not all about the sound, but if it visually does not offer anything new - which it doesn't - being quiet has nothing to do with why cars thrill people.

It baffles me that this is even on the table. But then, I understand Metallica is making a piano record featuring Lou Reed, so I could be completely out of my mind. But wait, this is the same brain that noticed this morning that the President of the United States gave a speech yesterday about how great Led Zeppelin was. Did I imagine that....?

*Quiet* race cars?????

Really????

Put tires on them that are twice as wide, give them enough torque that it *looks* like a cartoon when they accelerate - then I'll be interested, otherwise - why not just watch F1 with the sound turned off?

Make F1 all electric, wide open rules. Otherwise, treat F1 as it is - an anachronism that is entertainment, keep it loud and strong. Formula E has to offer something *entertainment* wise to draw a crowd; what it lacks in sound it will have to make up for visually. Watching the Audi LMP was not as thrilling as the GT Corvettes in ALMS - for that matter, if you were at the wrong place on a track, you might only get a glimpse of it after it snuck up and had already passed you.

Not as entertaining as hearing an F1 car going through the gears a mile away before it gets to you. Frakking frak, what is wrong with you people????

Quiet race cars??? Cars with smaller displacements than my Celica, less hp than Indy cars sans KERS, and now you want me to "experience" a car that makes my clothes washer sound exciting???? WTF?

people like something you don't like, welcome to life. No need to shout at people. Anyway i like this Formula E concept and i hope it works. But i don't like the idea of having to change cars mid race.

[sesku]

Look like smaller version of late 80 early 90 Formula 1 car!

Edited by sesku, 05 December 2012 - 05:31.

[BullHead]

I don't understand all the gushing about this formula. Finally we might see an open wheel series where actual innovation is allowed, I for one look forward to it.

This.

And it's not just 'another series'. It's something different, properly different for a change. IMO it will be interesting, both as a spectacle and as a tech challenge.

[ayali]

And it's not just 'another series'. It's something different, properly different for a change. IMO it will be interesting, both as a spectacle and as a tech challenge.

Hmm I like my loud cars as much as the next guy but lets give this series a chance.
I think it's interesting at least

[MadYarpen]

engine sound is just soooo funny. But I think I have seen some prototype electric car, i think it was renault, there was this funny peugeot too, and they sounded like a jet plane, which wasn't that bad IMO. So it can soud better than this thing in the video.

I wonder however, wht will be the difference between proper car and this one in TV. Cause they also don't sound to spectacular, even F1.

[eronrules]

engine sound is just soooo funny. But I think I have seen some prototype electric car, i think it was renault, there was this funny peugeot too, and they sounded like a jet plane, which wasn't that bad IMO. So it can soud better than this thing in the video.

I wonder however, wht will be the difference between proper car and this one in TV. Cause they also don't sound to spectacular, even F1.

i think you are reffering to this ...

Electric race car: on board the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC

Nissan Electric Racing - The 100% Electric Nissan LEAF Nismo Race Car

[MadYarpen]

i think you are reffering to this ...

Electric race car: on board the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC

Nissan Electric Racing - The 100% Electric Nissan LEAF Nismo Race Car

No. It was citroen actually:



And this peugeot:

[Rubens Hakkamacher]

Ok, so we are talking about racing cars while the crowd can casually talk among themselves as the cars go by?

I suppose it can be made like golf, have everyone be silent as the cars race?

/ sorry, I'll just watch on tv

[kosmic33]

I'm sorry but this is Formula E:

[ElDictatore]

Since I was at a few tests of electric racing cars, I can tell you that they can be pretty loud at high speeds. Of course not as loud as a F1 or GT car, but the driver won't hear the crowd or anything.

[TheUltimateWorrier]

Love it, cars sound like the hover-racing-things from Wipeout (Playstation).

[BoschKurve]

I'm sort of intrigued by the aesthetic look of these cars. They actually look better than the current F1 cars to me.

[Skinnyguy]

If they get good drivers and the series produces good racing, I´ll watch.

Racing>Sound, all the way. 2005 F1 cars were absolut monsters, and lovelye to listen/watch even hotlapping alone, but I´d watch a 2012 race before a 2005 one, no doubt.

[HaydenFan]

If you don't have teams investing, you don't have a series either. Two cars per driver fully in race prep? That's going to cost some bucks. Most junior formula teams bring two cars per driver to the circuit, but the back-up is far from race ready on the truck. How will that impact driver budgets?

Only street races? Gets the cars to the people, but street racing generally provides mixed races. Sometimes there great, but mostly street circuit are a bit of a bore. If you want to sell a series in today's market, like mentioned, you need good racing, and you can't market crappy racing, even on the best of circuits.

Where would this fit under the Euro ladder of things? More like Superleague/A1GP/F2 where it's/was there and saw little interest over time? Or more like FR3.5/Auto GP, where it finds a niche and manages to get something from it?

We had the GreenPrix idea here in the states from the guy who bought all the old Champ Car equipment, and that never got off the ground. And I think that guy was less ambitious than Formula E (sounds like a party drug, right?).

[V8 Fireworks]

We had the GreenPrix idea here in the states from the guy who bought all the old Champ Car equipment, and that never got off the ground. And I think that guy was less ambitious than Formula E (sounds like a party drug, right?).

He had no support from owner of Cosworth (indeed there were non-compete agreements in takeover by IRL of champcar I think) and evidently no money to re-engineer the DP01 for some other engine (e.g., Judd 4L V10) therefore I do not think Greenprix was so serious.