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Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

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Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#51

Post by clouddrover »

numlocked wrote: post #38

Are Formula E cars geared? Electric engines can deliver the same optimal torque throughout the RPM range, so is shifting involved? That's obviously an important part of the F1 drivers' skillset (especially during starts) so I'm curious if they just have work the brake and accelerator or also worry about gear changes.

In the first season they all had the same car with 5 gears. In the second season development has been allowed on the motor, inverter, and transmission and the teams have taken a number of different approaches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-KONybIQQA

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#52

Post by exDM69 »

kayoone wrote: post #36

I went to the Formula E Grandprix in Berlin last year. I am a pretty big F1 fan, watching most of the races and know whats going on but Forumla-E was actually pretty bland and boring, i believe mostly due to missing any kind of engine noise. It kind of feels like very fast soapboxes racing around (not nearly as fast as F1 though).

One issue with Formula E is that the city street courses are really boring race tracks.

If you look at the recordings from their pre-season "dress rehearsal" from Donington Park (available in YouTube), it was magnificent racing. Much better than any of the proper races they had.

There is work to be done to make Formula E interesting. I know I'll be watching RoboRace, but probably not the current season.

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#53

Post by [deleted] »

Symbiote wrote: post #13
Raphmedia wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> or pedestrians realized they cannot rely on their hearing to monitor traffic at crosswalks. It's time enough. Unless you are blind, you should look both way before crossing. You shouldn't jaywalk anyway.

You have that the wrong way around. The car driver should be looking before proceeding, and should be driving slow enough to stop before any pedestrian. Yes, that may mean driving through a residential area at 15 km/h. (Or even 10km/h: [1]) [1] https://collegegreensharedspace.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/...

[deleted]

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#54

Post by exDM69 »

firimari wrote: post #25

To answer the supposition at the end of the article, they're already working on driverless racecars. http://selfracingcars.com/

The link you gave is incorrect. That's an amateur club race in California (which is cool too!). FIA RoboRace is entirely different. The link is:

http://roborace.com

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#55

Post by exDM69 »

firimari wrote: post #25

To answer the supposition at the end of the article, they're already working on driverless racecars. http://selfracingcars.com/

The link you gave is incorrect. That's an amateur club race in California (which is cool too!). FIA RoboRace is entirely different. The link is:

http://roborace.com

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#56

Post by exDM69 »

invernomut0 wrote: post #11

These cars just look like some kind of Formula cars but there are some of important differences: - first for now all cars are more or less the same (there's no research competition behind motors or aerodynamics like in WEC or F1) - the race rules are not so meaningful to me: changing cars in the middle of the race doesn't add to the fun, why not doing 2 shorter races? I see it as a minor low budget futurist racing se…

They don't look like Formula 1 cars at all, the layout is similar but all the details are different.

It's actually much closer to an Indycar, both built by Dallara.

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#57

Post by exDM69 »

numlocked wrote: post #38

Are Formula E cars geared? Electric engines can deliver the same optimal torque throughout the RPM range, so is shifting involved? That's obviously an important part of the F1 drivers' skillset (especially during starts) so I'm curious if they just have work the brake and accelerator or also worry about gear changes.

I guess the engine speeds would become an issue at 100mph+. Even if theoretically you can get maximum torque at any speed, practical issues would arise if you ran electric motors at 100k rpm.

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#58

Post by goshx »

I watched Formula E in Florida and it sounded like a race of blenders :)

I also watched Formula 1 and I loved the sound of the engines. You can tell by the sound what the top engines are. It is just a whole other experience. You hear the car coming before you see it and that gets you excited.

I'm probably biased, being a Formula 1 fan for over 25 years.

Re: Electric race cars that look like Formula 1, but are eerily quiet

#59

Post by GurnB »

kayoone wrote: post #36

I went to the Formula E Grandprix in Berlin last year. I am a pretty big F1 fan, watching most of the races and know whats going on but Forumla-E was actually pretty bland and boring, i believe mostly due to missing any kind of engine noise. It kind of feels like very fast soapboxes racing around (not nearly as fast as F1 though).

I was surprised to find how much the sounds of the engine added to my general enjoyment of the racing.
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