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Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

arstechnica.com

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Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#3
Video of the race from the second page: https://youtu.be/fvxRqC8UoAs?t=2m55s

Engine sound is amazing. This is the first time I have heard tire screech in a race. I wonder why. :-)

The problems seems to be battery capacity. They have to switch cars. Since the racing is usually done on a closed circuit they could implement inductive charging in the future( and perhaps power-ups ). Who wouldn't want to watch that?

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#4
post #2

There are limits on everything: acceleration, maximal speed and even noise. Formula E will be boring same way as Formula 1. Identical cars circling around the track.

It seems your data on F-1 are slightly out of date. Yes, the rules are the same for everyone, but each team optimizes within them differently. As for identical cars, I guess McLaren only wish they had a car like Mercedes or Ferrari (or any old car that could actually last an entire race).

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#5
post #2

There are limits on everything: acceleration, maximal speed and even noise. Formula E will be boring same way as Formula 1. Identical cars circling around the track.

Formula E is actually worse than Formula 1, since they are built by the same manufacturer. You can't level the same criticism at F1 these days, with a dominant team like Mercedes.

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#6
What I want to see is not heroic drivers like NASCAR, nor heroic billionaires investing in very similar tweaks, like Formula 1, but a diversity of creative conceptual engineering, competing in the same challenges, for lots of money.

Things like DARPA sponsors: The Grand Challenge in self-driving cars, and the Robotics Challenge. The Ansari X-prize also applies. BattleBots was a decent attempt at a sport along these lines. Fields where true novelty still exists, and there are no consistently obvious paths forward.

My impression as a non-fan is that Formula 1 only achieves divergent innovation on rare occasions, and next season or two everyone is doing it or it's been banned by the race sponsors.

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#7
post #6

What I want to see is not heroic drivers like NASCAR, nor heroic billionaires investing in very similar tweaks, like Formula 1, but a diversity of creative conceptual engineering, competing in the same challenges, for lots of money. Things like DARPA sponsors: The Grand Challenge in self-driving cars, and the Robotics Challenge. The Ansari X-prize also applies. BattleBots was a decent attempt at a sport along these l…

You are spot-on! At the moment, F1 has little diversity and lots of restricting regulations. Formula-E is even worse, with everyone driving the same cars. NASCAR, or Indy, is not better either.

All the revolution and innovation is in WEC (World Endurance Championship), it's the one with the Le Mans round. This year, 4 strong competitors arrive in the top class and this is the series to watch http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/first-official-picture...

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#8
post #2

There are limits on everything: acceleration, maximal speed and even noise. Formula E will be boring same way as Formula 1. Identical cars circling around the track.

I don't know, the sport of it, rather than the engineering of it, is now more important.

Instead of the company with the most money, the driver skill is more important this round.

Re: Racing goes electric: At the track with Formula E, the first e-racing series

#10
post #8
post #2

There are limits on everything: acceleration, maximal speed and even noise. Formula E will be boring same way as Formula 1. Identical cars circling around the track.

I don't know, the sport of it, rather than the engineering of it, is now more important. Instead of the company with the most money, the driver skill is more important this round.

Yes. Just watched a race where two different race leaders lost, because they( and not the car ) made a mistake.
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