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Formula E Ends Its Season—and an Era—in Brooklyn, New York

posted by martyb on Wednesday July 18 2018, @10:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the Whrrrr!-Whrrrr! dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Ars Technica:

Racing cars came to Red Hook this past weekend as Formula E held its season four finale, the NYC ePrix. Although the event is only in its second year, the Big Apple is fast feeling like home for these all-electric race cars, and once again we saw championship-deciding races play out against the Manhattan skyline.

But this event also marked a different sort of finale—the end of Formula E's first chapter as the series prepares to retire the cars its been using for these last four seasons. When season five gets underway in Saudi Arabia this December, Formula E will have a new vehicle in the spotlight: one with more power, wild looks, and enough battery to make mid-race vehicle swaps a thing of the past.

The roar of the engines was heard all the way in Park Slope, Brooklyn (the next neighborhood over)...er, no, it wasn't. Does that take all the fun out of it?

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @12:24AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @12:24AM (#709098)

    Those are good ideas, especially the reverse starting order. But with that whine/noise Formula E is never going to be exciting to watch.

    Car racing is partly about IC noise, special noises. I'll never forget the scream of the Matra V-12 when it came to Watkins Glen F1 for the first time, completely different than the Cosworth V-8s of that era. Here -- but not running to the original redline, so somewhat subdued https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klEjfdqYrE4 [youtube.com] At the beginning you can see the unique 12-into-6 exhaust (iirc, made from cast Titanium--so it rings) and lapping starts around 1:30. The French do things their own way! Another go here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybolc7vcV38 [youtube.com] , still not at full revs.

    AutoExtremist has similar comments in this recent editorial,
        http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/2018/7/16/racings-cold-electric-future.html [autoextremist.com]

    Formula E, for example, does nothing for me. I was optimistic about the formula at first, but the reality of the slot car sounds and the uninvolving nature of those machines leaves me cold. Formula E is missing one crucial component that is an absolutely essential part of racing, and that is passion. The Formula E cars are soulless conveyances completely devoid of passion. Once you get past the novelty of the whole thing, the reality of what it actually is sets in almost immediately, and it's not compelling in the least. And that isn't going to change next year, even when the cars will be able to complete the race distance on a single charge.

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by LVDOVICVS on Thursday July 19 2018, @12:44AM (1 child)

    by LVDOVICVS (6131) on Thursday July 19 2018, @12:44AM (#709108)

    Here's a hybrid switching from electric to gas. Kinda cool.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqlDPAoY8PM [youtube.com]

    I'm an F1 fan. Unfortunately, I have the snobbish opinion that until an all-electric is competitive to a current F1 car on an F1 circuit, they're only second best. It's not at all about noise for me, but performance.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @02:00AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @02:00AM (#709140)

      Cool link of the hybrid switching on the gas.

      I think this is the same Toyota V8-hybrid lapping, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCgVUGUONf0 [youtube.com] and it sounds spectacular, now I wish I'd been to Le Mans to hear it!