Miami is hosting the first of two races for the Formula E, the world's first fully electric racing series:
The series kicked off in Beijing in September 2014, and this inaugural 11-round season ends in London this June. Each race takes place in a city center on a temporary street circuit, and the events are condensed into a single day. This both maximizes the spectacle for the fans in attendance and minimizes the disruption to everyone else in the city (with the road closures and so on). It's one of many things we discovered Formula E does in contrast to the more traditional two- or three-day race meeting.
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Ah yes, battery life. This is Formula E’s elephant in the room. At 28 kWh, the SRT_01E’s batteries don’t store enough electricity to last a full race, and recharging takes almost an hour—far too long to be practical in a pit stop. What’s more, a decision was made to use the battery’s safety cell as part of the car’s structure, so they can’t just be swapped during a race (even though Williams had just such a system in development).
The solution? Each Formula E driver needs two cars for the race, jumping from one to the other during a pit stop. In the lead up to the season, this idea drew much derision, and we must confess it still doesn’t sit right. However, the alternative would be a battery that weighed twice as much. The current Formula E battery has roughly the same energy density as Tesla’s 85 kWh unit, which weighs more than twice as much. And at almost 2,000 lbs, the SRT_01E could ill afford to gain more weight.
Electric cars are well-known for their instant torque and smooth acceleration, so it will be interesting to see how that affects driver tactics and strategies. But will racing fans miss the scream of the engines?
(Score: 5, Funny) by ikanreed on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:14PM
Street Circuit.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @08:22PM
(And of course the single most presitigious and venerable motorcycle race in the whole world is a street circuit.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday March 31 2015, @08:24PM
They're electric cars.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @09:01PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Ryuugami on Tuesday March 31 2015, @10:39PM
It's a pun. Electric cars racing on a street circuit.
"Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted." -- Fred Allen
If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @11:59PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wantkitteh on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:27PM
I saw an F1 race at Silverstone, many years ago, and even being at a sensible distance from the track, the noise was ear-splitting. Everyone was wearing ear protectors. That was an open course - I can't imagine how deafening the volume in a closed street course would be. Perhaps the change in volume isn't such a bad thing. Besides, I love the noise these things make. They sound like X-Wing fighters! How can that possibly be a bad thing?!
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:37PM
Because for some people, every change is a bad change. Familiar elements get mistaken for sacred tradition. And then you get angry when someone improves on the status quo.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snow on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:42PM
Formula One used to be about the pinnacle of racing. The fastest cars that money could buy. The V12 monsters screaming at 18,000+ RPM have given way to 'fuel efficient' turbocharged 1.6L V6 running at much lower RPMs. They don't sound the same and they look like they have a dildo attached to the front. The bullshit rules restrict the amount of fuel that can be used. There are no refuelling pitstops any more. The tyres are intentionally flawed to make the racing more exciting...
Formula One used to be about balls to be wall racing. Who gives a shit if F1 cars get 10 MPG or 0.5 MPG? I want to see F1 cars with turbo/supercharged V12 engines putting out retarded amounts of power and spewing fire out the back. I want to see the cars designed with so much downforce that they are glued to the track. I want the noise to be so goddamn loud that my ears are bleeding after.
As for Formula E, I like the idea, but there are too many rules... Can't use too much power in a single lap or you get penalized. Can't use too much power over all or penalties. Swapping cars mid race? That's bullshit. If the tech isn't there yet, they should have made the race shorter. 'Formula' racing should be all about the speed.
(Score: 2) by scruffybeard on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:53PM
How long does an F1 race usually last? I don't follow any car racing, but had the opportunity to go see a regional stock car race in the 90s. I recall several events that went on all day long, with the main event lasing about 45mins to an hour. I would rather see a shorter race than have the drivers switch out in the middle. At that point you are really just running two races back-to-back.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Snow on Tuesday March 31 2015, @04:57PM
The drivers remain the same, it's just the cars that are swapped (in formula E).
I haven't seen a ton of formula E races, but I think they take about 45 mins to an hour. Formula One takes about an hour and half.
(Score: 3, Informative) by TLA on Tuesday March 31 2015, @05:09PM
180 miles or 90 minutes whichever arrives first. Usually 48-70 laps depending on the circuit.
Excuse me, I think I need to reboot my horse. - NCommander
(Score: 2, Informative) by soylentsandor on Tuesday March 31 2015, @07:18PM
It's a maximum of 2 hours [wikipedia.org]:
This is meant to make broadcasters happy so they know exactly how much satellite uplink capacity to buy. And also, they can be sure they don't need do drop a program because F1 is running late.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @08:28PM
There's already been a red-flagged competitive session this season (and we've only had 2 races).
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by TLA on Wednesday April 01 2015, @01:51AM
I sit corrected, thanky :)
Excuse me, I think I need to reboot my horse. - NCommander
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday March 31 2015, @07:39PM
At that point you are really just running two races back-to-back.
Not seeing a problem with that. Run some heats and top off the charge during a wardrobe malfunction half time show followed by the finals.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by CoolHand on Tuesday March 31 2015, @05:36PM
Swapping Cars.... Yeah, that's the one thing I really disagree with. They should have made a better design to begin with, and swapped batteries in the same car. Then pit crew speed would have been brought into play and been fairly interesting.
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(Score: 2, Insightful) by soylentsandor on Tuesday March 31 2015, @07:11PM
F1 cars still beat any car around an F1-like track, so in that sense it still is the pinnacle of racing.
As for the technology, consider this: say they still had these V12 monsters producing 1000+ HP (and probably considerably more by now), they would be something really rather old fashioned a decade or so down the road. F1 needs to keep up with technology or be rendered obsolete. That's what they have been doing recently with the switch to these small blocks in hybrid configurations.
When it comes to hybrid they haven't exactly been at the forefront of technology the last few years or so. But F1 has made up for that now and is still pushing forward hard and fast as it always has.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @09:16PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 31 2015, @09:05PM
Maybe they should vote one driver out of the championship at the end of each race too?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SlimmPickens on Tuesday March 31 2015, @09:29PM
Formula One used to be about balls to be wall racing. Who gives a shit if F1 cars get 10 MPG or 0.5 MPG? I want to see F1 cars with turbo/supercharged V12 engines putting out retarded amounts of power and spewing fire out the back. I want to see the cars designed with so much downforce that they are glued to the track. I want the noise to be so goddamn loud that my ears are bleeding after.
Some ten years ago I read that if they had never banned any technology in F1 it would be a 700+ Km/h car. I kind of wish they would just move the drivers to the pits and go balls to the wall on the technology. Lot's of people don't like the idea because you loose the vibe of 'a man and his machine' but we have plenty of that. I want to see a 700 Km/h dodgem car! The races might actually become exciting again.
(Score: 2) by TLA on Tuesday March 31 2015, @05:07PM
if anyone remembers the inaugural race in China, so long ago now, one driver (#1) clipped another (#2) and was sent airborne clear over #2's car, bounced off a kerb and went VERTICAL for twenty feet straight up, before coming down on #1's head.
How in the hell a ton of car managed to do THAT in the space of two seconds is anyone's guess.
Excuse me, I think I need to reboot my horse. - NCommander
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday March 31 2015, @07:52PM
Video link please.
(Score: 2) by TLA on Wednesday April 01 2015, @01:48AM
happy to oblige:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNgyuzxx_YY [youtube.com]
About 45 seconds in, but watch it all up to that point, Prost and Heidfeld are pretty much neck and neck through the final corner of the last lap and they clip. I want to know how that much car flew like that and how Heidfeld walked away from that!
Excuse me, I think I need to reboot my horse. - NCommander
(Score: 4, Insightful) by splodus on Tuesday March 31 2015, @05:24PM
When I was a youngster one of the best things about motor racing was the innovation it brought to vehicle technology.
At some point I think F1 became so dangerous that a whole raft of constraints were brought in, making much of the technology irrelevant to production cars.
It seems to me that, so far, Formula E is missing a trick by using the same motor and battery tech for each car. Maybe it will be opened up at some point, but right now I don't see where the competition for innovation is going to come from. Surely you want each team trying to outdo the others with better motors, gearboxes and battery/control systems. Which would eventually find their way into family electric cars?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday March 31 2015, @08:17PM
The video clip mentioned that those constraints will be lifted soon so the teams can do exactly what you're talking about.
I do hope Formula E propels innovation in EVs, especially in battery technology because that's the single biggest limiting factor. It would be especially neat if they were able to replace the batteries with ultra-capacitors; then for extra theatrics they could recharge by driving into a tunnel surrounded by lightning bolts, Faraday-cage style. I think with a little showmanship like that they could win over even die-hard petrolheads.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 01 2015, @11:29AM
It's being opened up next season. There will be eight manufacturers allowed to make "some" modifications, although I'm not sure what those modifications will be, nor what the commercial setup will be. I doubt it will extend to the engine, unfortunately, which was developed by McLaren and used in their P1 supercar - even that technology should eventually filter down to road cars, though.
The reason to keep it locked down for the first season was not least to keep the costs under control. Some of those teams, there's no chance they'd have been able to afford entry were they also responsible for development. I'd imagine that next season we'll see a variety of manufacturers providing modified shells to the teams, rather than all the teams themselves modifying their chassis the way they do in F1.
Also for the record, one of the reasons that Formula 1 now uses the generally-disliked hybrid engines is after pressure from engine manufacturers (and, ironically enough, with particular pressure from Renault who have produced a pretty lacklustre engine, and Honda who needed justification to re-enter the sport and have produced an even shabbier engine) looking to make the engine technology significantly more relevant to road cars. Given the road markets, Ferrari's engine technology is probably a bit less relevant than those of Mercedes, Renault and Honda.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Schafer2 on Tuesday March 31 2015, @07:46PM
Nothing like the derision that is being heaped upon Fanboost [fiaformulae.com], where fans get to vote on who gets an extra burst of power. Racing should be about the drivers (this year) and also the constructors (next year, when each team gets to customize their power train [fiaformulae.com]).
Despite this, Formula E is going to be fun. I'll enjoy hearing the screech of tires this weekend at the "Long Beach ePrix" (Long Beach, California). BTW, for those looking to attend, general admission is free [fiaformulae.com].
Regarding noise--if it's not necessary, doesn't it seem kind of lame? I attended all three days of the 2012 German Grand Prix. The scream of the engines is visceral and amazing, for about 5 minutes. Then it's just a nuisance making every attempt at communication a chore. Racing needs the scream of engines like rock and roll needs glam bands.
(Score: 3, Funny) by SlimmPickens on Tuesday March 31 2015, @09:31PM
Fanboost sounds like some kind of jet assisted KERS. The reality of it is so disappointing.