332 replies to this topic

[thegamer23]

 

 

ABB FIA FORMULA E - SEASON 5 CAR UNVEIL THREAD 

 

"There were no teams. There were no drivers. There were no cities. There was no car. All we had, was an idea"  - Alejandro Agag.

 

We've come a long time since those early days.
It was 2013 and the rumors about a brand new Electric Serie just started to spread out. "It's not going to happen!" some said. "It will collapse in two years time!" others added. 

One year later, Formula E was racing in the streets of Beijing.
A brand new Racing Serie was born, from scratch. "First two seasons will be critical for the future of the serie, we'll see where we are at the end of 2015/2016" - Agag added. 

Four years later, Formula E is racing in some of the most iconic cities in the world, bringing the race to the people and not viceversa.
One of the strongest driver line-ups in Motorsport, youngsters coming in, close racing, on the edge stuff.

Strong partners, like the recently signed ABB; will support it till 2025 & beyond, working together with Formula E also to develop electric infrastructures needed in the world, for the mobility of tomorrow.  Formula E is here to stay,

 

And it's ready to take the next step. A revolution is coming in Season 5, a brand new futuristic, faster car will debut & will detach Formula E from every form of traditional motorsport we know. 

This revolution is set to debut later this month, in a big reveal event of the new car. This is all you have to know, before that date: 

-----------------------------------

A GAME CHANGER
 

https://www.autospor...aled-this-month

 

Agag's interview below: 
 

"It will be a start of a new era for Formula E. 

The "Batman-style" car will look very different to any single-seater out there – it is futuristic and eye-catching. Performance-wise we are also very excited as the initial data we gathered during testing is showing a considerably higher speed.

 

 

 

It will be our biggest breakthrough yet to put this car on the track. In fact, we might have to see how that affects some of the layouts of the city tracks we use, because it may be that the car could start to outgrow some of them; we'll be able to take a much more informed position when we have seen the full performance of the car.

 

"The main DNA of the championship is street racing, so let's wait and see the data".

 

 

 

"We're moving forward in so many other ways, too, such as our new title partnership with ABB, which makes Formula E the first FIA single-seater championship to have a title partner.

It's an incredibly significant moment because ABB are the perfect partner for us. They have a wide-spread technological base and – of particular significance for us –are involved in the entire energy supply chain, from production to transportation to consumption. And they're doing it in a sustainable way.

 

They're working on renewables, they're working on batteries, they're working on energy grids, digitalisation, robotics and artificial intelligence… all the things, in fact, that are going to enable the revolution in e-mobility that Formula E wants to promote and continue to be a part of.

We're seeing more and more high technology companies – innovators – entering this championship alongside global car manufactures and that's great. These kinds of partners are aligned with our vision and what we do.

 

One aspect of ABB technology that has me incredibly excited is their ultra-fast charging. I think this may be an incredible revolution, because if we get to a technology where you stop for, say, 10 seconds and you can charge a battery with 20-30kWh in that time, that's going to change the world completely. One way to make batteries more usable is to increase their capacity; another is to charge them faster and ABB is looking to that. Together with our clean, zero-emission glycerine technology that we are currently using to charge the batteries, I think it could be a game-changer" 

 

 

 

THE SEASON 5 CAR KNOWN SPECS

 

 

RACE POWER OUTPUT: 220 kW  [+40 kW]
QUALI OUTPUT: 250 kW  [+50 kW]
ENERGY FLOW RATE: 54 kW/h [+26 kW/h]

 

MEDIUM RACE CAR COST: 817.300 €

- Electric Powertrain: 250.000 € 

- Halo: 12'700 € (Mandatory with the new FIA regulation)
- 299'600 € (Spark Chassis
- 200'000 € (McLaren Battery)

A development version of the Season 5 Formula E car was tested by Frederic Mackowiecki in Spain, & completed race distances without major problems. 
The car runned already more than 1 second faster than the current counterpart on the same power output (180 kW), showing a better package overall. 

The "futuristic" Season 5 car should feature also a Brake by Wire system, an overall more efficient chassis package & a big Venturi at the back, replacing the current wing.
 

 

 

THE REVEAL

The big reveal will come "At the end of the month". So, almost there!

There will be a live streaming & some days afterwards, Formula E will reach Santiago of Chile for the fourth round of the championship. Busy days!

 

 

Edited by thegamer23, 29 January 2018 - 15:57.

[MadYarpen]

Will it have the halo?

[Risil]

Will it have the halo?

 

It's listed in the cost breakdown quoted in the OP. I suppose we'll see at the unveil whether the designers were able to it to the chassis in a non-ugly way.

[thegamer23]

Will it have the halo?

Indeed. It's mandatory now for the new open cockpit cars. 

FIA.   

 

Edited by thegamer23, 17 January 2018 - 17:42.

[MadYarpen]

they shoul close the cockpit then... As in the concept.

[Vielleicht]

The Halo is something we'll have to get used to pretty fast or all FIA single seater based threads/comments/message boards/discussions down the pub are going to get very pessimistic places indeed. Anyway, I'm sure there will be a more aesthetic solution within a few years, seemed to me like they just really needed to get the ball rolling when there was too much resistance to having any more protection at all. Now that it's mandatory I think there will be even more motivation for a better solution.

 

But enough about the infernal controversial piece of carbon fibre!

'Batman' looks, 250kW qualy power, higher speeds in testing already, no more car swap... and less than two weeks from reveal?

Sounds good to me.

[johnmhinds]

Batman-style?

 

[NorwegianRudo]

If the power output is going up that much, how are they going to do double the race distance? My understanding is the new battery has slightly less than double the capacity, or have I misunderstood?

Edited by NorwegianRudo, 17 January 2018 - 19:31.

[Ben1445]

Sweeeeet. I can't wait it's taken them long enough to reveal it already. Feels like only yesterday this series started and here we are at the cusp of the next phase of it's life. 

 

If the power output is going up that much, how are they going to do double the race distance? My understanding is the new battery has slightly less than double the capacity, or have I misunderstood?

 

If absolutely all of the stored energy perfectly converted then yes, running at 25% more power and doubling the distance and slightly less than double the battery capacity is something of an impossibility. But that is never really the case as every system will have efficiency losses. Seeing as we can't break any laws of physics, I would assume that improvements in efficiency have been made in order to make it work. I would like an explanation of where they have made these improvements when the new car is revealed, for interests sake. 

[RSRally]

I think the new car is supposed to be both lighter and more aerodynamically efficient.

They may have been able to integrate the halo better if they were able to design the chassis around it, as opposed to it being an add on to F1 cars.

January 30th guys!

[Vielleicht]

e-racing365: Revealed: First Images of New Formula E Car

"Brief flashes of the much-anticipated car, known as the Spark SRT-05, were surreptitiously used in the film which was issued almost two weeks ago to announce the arrival of new title partners the ABB Group"

 

I knew it!

 

And a pretty key bit of new information here:

"The installation of the battery is also set to change as it will now be fitted from underneath the car and will not have a separate crash structure. It will therefore no longer a stressed component."

 

"The new car features in scenes at both the 20 and 26-second marks in the film,

and depict ABB robots working on sections of the Spark SRT-05 car."

 

[Ben1445]

I knew it!

 

And a pretty key bit of new information here:

"The installation of the battery is also set to change as it will now be fitted from underneath the car and will not have a separate crash structure. It will therefore no longer a stressed component."

Good spot 

 

And the battery is no longer a stressed element? I hear the talk of battery swapping waking their slumber once more... even if unrealistic. 

[Vielleicht]

And the battery is no longer a stressed element? I hear the talk of battery swapping waking their slumber once more... even if unrealistic. 

I would assume the motivation would primarily be a matter of lowering the centre of gravity, but I guess this would make swaps... less unrealistic, shall we say, than before.

 

Would be great to see a diagram of how the battery is attached when the full specs/images are released. The current car is architecturally very much like a traditional single seater, but It sounds like the layout of this car may be a little more original and make use of unique-to-EVs design opportunities. Which I think is pretty exciting.

[thegamer23]

Ah! You were right mate, good eye

Can't wait for January 30th.

Edited by thegamer23, 22 January 2018 - 18:29.

[RSRally]

New car group test at the end of March.

[Vielleicht]

People who have seen the car seem to say it is 'similar' to the Spark concept renders but has a few key differences. Kind of reminds me how the first concept images for the SRT_01E were also similar-but-different to the current chassis:

 

Literally no idea exactly what purpose this post serves if I'm honest. It will just be interesting to find out how close to the Season 5 concept images are to the real thing compared to how close the Season 1 concept was.

[Vielleicht]

First official teaser shot

[Ben1445]

Well that LED strip is a very bit Tron like

[johnmhinds]

Pretty gutsy move to try and make the Halo into a feature instead of trying to hide it.

Edited by johnmhinds, 27 January 2018 - 17:31.

[Vielleicht]

I'll be interested to see how they utilize that strip to show information in the race. Full reveal on Tuesday!

[thegamer23]

Colour me excited.   

That Led might save the Halo. 

Edited by thegamer23, 27 January 2018 - 17:51.

[Vielleicht]

The poor employee running the Formula E twitter account where this image was released deserves some sort of medal for dealing with the comments it's generating.

 

Making the most of the Halo with those LED strips from day one though may indeed be a smart move. Will F1 follow suit or dawdle as usual?

[johnmhinds]

Is that a slick tyre that we can see through the Halo?

Edited by johnmhinds, 27 January 2018 - 18:31.

[Vielleicht]

The FE social media people say it is not

[Ben1445]

I reckon it's bodywork. All of the concepts so far have had some degree of enclosed front wheels, so I think it stands to reason this will have too. 

[maximilian]

Not a bad idea to release a look at the HALO first, so people can desensitize themselves before hand and get the inevitable bickering out of the way - should lessen the impact of it later, when they release the rest of the car for viewing.  I did hope they'd find a significantly different solution altogether, though - something like Sean Bull's full canopy car really would look awesome.  But oh well.

[V8 Fireworks]

Pretty gutsy move to try and make the Halo into a feature instead of trying to hide it.

 

Halos are cool. 

[Vielleicht]

They seem confident that the rest of the car will make up for it ... we shall see.

[Graveltrappen]

Pretty gutsy move to try and make the Halo into a feature instead of trying to hide it.

You cannot polish a turd... however, you can sprinkle it with glitter

[Vielleicht]

Sean Bull, who has produced the livery designs for Dragon this year and appears to also have seen the new car, has this to say:

 

Sean Bull Design‏ @seanbulldesign 20m20 minutes ago

^{Sean Bull Design Retweeted ABB Formula E}

Prepare to be amazed. Car looks outstanding

Edited by Vielleicht, 28 January 2018 - 10:58.

[TecnoRacing]

The poor employee running the Formula E twitter account where this image was released deserves some sort of medal for dealing with the comments it's generating.

 

Making the most of the Halo with those LED strips from day one though may indeed be a smart move. Will F1 follow suit or dawdle as usual?

 

How is adding LED strips 'making the most of the Halo?'

[thegamer23]

Sean Bull, who has produced the livery designs for Dragon this year and appears to also have seen the new car, has this to say:

Well, Sean Bull usually has a good taste for ahestetics. So..

[Vielleicht]

Well, Sean Bull usually has a good taste for ahestetics. So..

Well, I've bought my ticket and I'm on the platform but I'm still having an internal conflict about whether to get on but I am tempted... 

[Graveltrappen]

Well, Sean Bull usually has a good taste for ahestetics. So..

He’s drawing a wage though as well as the cars so he’s got a bit more of an interest in this one.

Edited by Graveltrappen, 28 January 2018 - 15:55.

[RSRally]

Looks like they may have integrated the halo quite nicely, so it shouldn’t look too much like an afterthought.

Different coloured LED lights could perhaps signify differing power levels?

[Vielleicht]

Preview number 2

[Ben1445]

Holy Moly 

 

So does look they've gone for the 'concept car' look. Like all of those "CLICK HERE to see what F1 cars will look like in 10 years time!" kind of designs. 

Edited by Ben1445, 28 January 2018 - 17:45.

[thegamer23]

That's a sick diffuser

And no rear wing looks like

Edited by thegamer23, 28 January 2018 - 18:17.

[RSRally]

Sean Bull, who has produced the livery designs for Dragon this year

Surprised at that as I usually like his work but Dragon probably have the worst livery on the grid.

[Disgrace]

Looks like they're taking a cue from Super Formula with that probable charge display on the halo.

[Vielleicht]

Aside from the excitement of a new car and a new era, it just hit me that the final race of the Gen1 car is less than 6 months away and that it may be a slightly emotional moment.

[PayasYouRace]

Holy Moly 
 
So does look they've gone for the 'concept car' look. Like all of those "CLICK HERE to see what F1 cars will look like in 10 years time!" kind of designs.

I guess the great thing about FE is that they don’t have history to base their look on. Everyone has an idea of what a formula one car, or an Indycar, or a sports prototype or a grand tourer should look like. But there’s no established look for what an all electric prototype racing car should look like. Unlike a conventional single seater, their shape hasn’t evolved over the years by developments in technology and regulation. Normal single seaters look the way they do because they’re based on the best place for the engine, fuel tank, radiators, gearbox, etc, which an electric car has different requirements for.

They truly have a clean sheet to work with, so they might as well let their imaginations run wild.

[Ben1445]

I guess the great thing about FE is that they don’t have history to base their look on. Everyone has an idea of what a formula one car, or an Indycar, or a sports prototype or a grand tourer should look like. But there’s no established look for what an all electric prototype racing car should look like. Unlike a conventional single seater, their shape hasn’t evolved over the years by developments in technology and regulation. Normal single seaters look the way they do because they’re based on the best place for the engine, fuel tank, radiators, gearbox, etc, which an electric car has different requirements for.

They truly have a clean sheet to work with, so they might as well let their imaginations run wild.

Indeed! On one hand I was truly of the opinion that this was what they should have done from day one to really establish it as a new thing instead of drawing inevitable comparisons to F1/traditional single seaters, but on the other maybe what they did gave it a level of familiarity so people could instantly tell it was a racing car and they could use established design/manufacturing knowledge to produce a car quickly and cheaply to get things going. 

 

So I don't know really. I'm glad they seem to be establishing a unique visual identity now, I just hope it lives up to the hype come Tuesday. 

[MadYarpen]

What I hope for is that this monster diffusor will actually help them make these cars quick around the corners.

So far I didn't find this series intersting because I can't get excited with the driving they produce. Mickey mouse circuits, and despite close walls they don't look quick to me.

[thegamer23]

Fred Mackowiecki, who tested the S5 gen in Spain, described the car as a "Good" and "Exciting" step forward

 

http://e-racing365.c...ays-makowiecki/

 

 

I wonder if we'll get a live streaming presentation or just images tomorrow! 

 

Hopefully a third sneak peak is coming this evening along with some info's

Edited by thegamer23, 29 January 2018 - 13:57.

[Vielleicht]

And bang on time there's preview number 3

[Muppetmad]

I look forward to seeing the car tomorrow 

[Vielleicht]

There's something so nice about a simple front wing. _{(Oh F1, why doth thou persist with the crazy?)}

 

I can't wait to see how these three previews come together. Do they give a rough overall impression already or is there a more surprise to come? Dammit FE! I wanna know!

[Ben1445]

Looks promising. 

 

*fingers crossed* 

[thegamer23]

Low nose!   

 

The hype coulnd't be higher. Every shot looks so promising. 
 

I predict that the front wing is somehow attached to the rest of the bodywork, by the way. Similar to that McLaren concept

https://cdn-7.motors...4-x-concept.jpg

Anyway, it won't be a Livestream unveil, but a Video Launch + Pics.    

Edited by thegamer23, 29 January 2018 - 17:48.