Father and child………Formula 1 and Formula E

Formula E will eventually commit patricide.

 

"Horses For Courses"

For those that are "Green", they will embrace FE.

For long time / Historic watchers such as myself, FE will never satisfy.

I have supported F1 since 1960 and Ferrari nonstop since 1965, so see no reason to change. In fact I have not viewed any FE race to date and cannot name one Car / Driver or Team.

 

I'm going to sound like a broken record, and inevitably someone will come along shortly telling me how wrong I am and that electricity is the future BUT I'll say it anyhow:

FE lacks excitement. The tracks are rubbish and the cars haven't got exciting noise. I personally can't get excited about a car sounding like a oversized RC car making a move on another 90 degree corner.

As for noise: I took my twin brothers (10 at the time) to F1 this year. They got bored with the tame sounding F1 cars quite quickly, and honestly believed the louder GP2 cars where F1. As F1 was driving around, they both asked ''when are the cool F1 cars coming again? This is boring...''.

Now if F1 noise fails to excite a 10 year old, how will electricity?

 

Unless they can create batteries that can make sure there are races that are at least an hour long yet able to give 700KW for the entire duration (AND not weigh a **** ton at it!), I really don't see this happening.

Right now Formula E uses decent seized batteries but even at low power they can't last more than 35 miles. It's pathetic.

Speed is relative. For instance, pro scalextric chaps is terrifyingly fast, but it's bloody boring. It may seem strange, but cars faster than an F1 car, but electric (so little noise)...is just boring. You don't ''feel'' the speed.

The GP2 cars are slower than F1 but the sensation of speed was much more impressive.

And upside down cars, loops? Is this hotwheels or F1?

 

If F1 is the father and Fe the son, what is Roborace? The blind house dog?

 

There was a time when races started on foot, with drivers scrambling to run to the car, jump in, start, and pull out to race.

That was stopped for safety, to make sure drivers were safely strapped in.
Even more important with HANS.

It's one thing to change drivers during the leisurely stops in an enduro race.

But Formula Eek has drivers trying to do a quick change of *entire cars* at the "pit stop".

It's like putting a car dealership in the middle of the Mille Miglia.


And I still assert that electric cars are not "green".
Electricity is not an energy source. It's merely an energy transfer medium.
Electricity is not mined; it is not "recycled"; it's generated from other energy sources.

Electric cars are just a way for cities to put their exhaust pipes elsewhere.
The urban hypocrisy: importing energy and exporting garbage.
And leaving their messes for someone else to clean up.

Now if they wanted a race series that ran in thunderstorms, to be powered by lightning, ...

 

Formula E or not, electric power is the future.

Burning fossil fuel and polluting is not.

 

+1

Personally I think the world could use electric vehicles to a certain degree. Have trucks, buses, delivery vans, trains etc all drive on electricity, helped by a small generator if needed. You can cover the entire top of the vehicle (mostly completely flat) with solar panels, extending the range that much more. The entire bottom of these vehicles could be fitted with battery packs (depending on how far such a vehicle travels that day, leaving a battery pack ''at home'' will save 100s of kg, which again makes the range of the vehicle more). For trucks especially, batteries should be universal and completely swap them in minutes at service stations.

Noise, polution will decrease substantially.

Same goes for shipping, solar powered ships will be a huge factor considering ships run on the dirtiest fuel imaginable.

As long as performance cars can remain petrol powered all will be well IMO. Electric racing series are coming but I remain highly skeptical about people actually going to see this (in real life or on TV).

 

FE will never supplant F1 and noise absolutely matters.

 

True and necessary, and I love motor racing and vintage cars. Several weeks ago all the German provinces voted to ban the internal combustion engine by 2030. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but when the inventors of said technology see the writing on the wall and understand its time to move forward, its time to take notice. And Audi has withdrawn from the WEC to pursue Formula E (yes, its a lot cheaper and VW needs to pay off a huge fine, but still...).

I remember reading that the State of California produces more pollution in one day than ALL motor racing events world wide in one year. Electric power may make sense for mass produced transportation, but maybe ICE enthusiasts can survive and coexist in the coming decades.

 

I think Norway (an oil producing country) wants to ban the sale of internal combustion engines in future, and the Netherlands also, I heard. So it's a trend that will grasp Europe very soon - like in the next half century.

The advanced world, at least, will turn to electric powered vehicles before long.