Formula-E racing ?, wow ...

[gsbuickman]

Wow , I was just flipping channels and ran across open wheels formula racing on Fox, only this isn't conventional formula 1 racing. these are electric powered formula cars racing in Malaysia & its pretty kool ...

I know it's not boat related, but in a way I think we can all relate ...
anybody else besides me catching this ?..

[Thomas Schlarb]

I saw that.. very cool.. amazing how much electric has come along

[NativePaul]

I was pretty disappointed to be honest, they look like great cars, but are really let down by having to run the eco road tyres rather than racing slicks and really limiting the cornering speeds.

[Thomas Schlarb]

Agreed but it made the drivers really have to work for it.. lol

[tlandauer]

Wonder how they TECH their battery's "nominal voltage"!!!???
One can imagine how busy the "moderators" are moping up those forums !

[gsbuickman]

Wonder how they TECH their battery's "nominal voltage"!!!???
One can imagine how busy the "moderators" are moping up those forums !

Idk Tim, but here is some I.teresting electric drag racing specs for motorcycle, dragster & doorslammer. It mentions the 1/8 mile drag bike is 48 volt

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_drag_racing

[obrien]

I saw an electric f1 car at the pri show a few years ago. They wouldn't tell me much about the car other than the electric motors made something like 800 hp
I found some specs on these cars. 268 hp weigh under 2000 lbs. supposed to go 0-60 in 3 seconds

[gsbuickman]

The electric motors are 100% torque @ 0 rpm, so if you can stick the tires to the payment, the launch is ours stupid insane . the trick is getting the acceleration to be equally as fast then you've got a rocketship ��.

[tlandauer]

The electric motors are 100% torque @ 0 rpm, so if you can stick the tires to the payment, the launch is ours stupid insane . the trick is getting the acceleration to be equally as fast then you've got a rocketship ��.

Yup, that is torque!
On a side note,
My friend test drove a Tesla and he said it was the most amazing experience in a production car . He is urging me to sign up for a free test drive, but I don't test drive what I can't afford, lol...

[kfxguy]

While this is pretty cool and paves the way for better technology. ....those cars look pretty slow? Maybe it's just me? Lol. Cool nonetheless, I can't wait till performance of 1:1 starts to catch up to where we are at. I wonder if the motors they use are brushless?

[fwlbp]

I think they are cool to see. I know that they are slow because the technology is relatively new. I would compare these to lower level formula cars like USF2000 rather than Formula 1. To be honest, I think that is the level these should compete in while the technology grows. It reminds me of the golden days of Formula 1 (pre-aero) where there was a lot of low hanging fruit to be had when the winning recipe was up in the air.

[siberianhusky]

According to the web site, 150mph top speed and about 150Kw in race mode, 200Kw in max power mode.

http://www.fiaformulae.com/

[T.S.Davis]

Did anybody see the beginning? They explained that before the race there was basically an on line popularity contest where the fans voted for their favorite drivers. Those guys got an extra 40 kw they could use for X number of seconds when they wanted it.

[Spartanator]

Kind of a cool idea but it needs some work...

Saleen Tesla GT anyone? Anyone remember when the Electric Drive Cigarette came out?

Anyways

[PatrickM]

Racing cars that don't make noise is just plain WRONG!!!!
The promoters are going to need to do a lot to punch up the excitement factor for the spectators.... maybe run crappy tires that require pit stops every few laps and/or develop a system that allows for battery changes. Swapping cars during timed stops is a real sleeper. I'm sure that as time goes on the technology will become available to increase speeds and bring the Formula E cars and their racing format more into line with conventional competitions, but until then I won't be paying to attend any events. At least they crash as spectacularly as IC cars... watching Prost take out Heidfeld in first televised race was the best part of the broadcast. Maybe large playing cards flapping in the spokes will help.