I don't know about that ! Only a few years ago, F1 attracted enough interest forLiberty global to purchase the rights. There are now rumours that the Saudis would like to add it to their portfolio. All this make me think some see a bright future ahead for it, in one form or the other.
If F1 keeps the ICE, when its phased out on the streets, I can see the constructors leaving. But that wouldn't necessarilly mean the demise of F1.
I'm all for that. About the phasing out of the ICE platform---> let the market phase it out in it's due course instead of some bureaucratic politician looking to line his pockets monetarily or forcing it down on people's backs due to the parties narrative.
I'm f'in disgusted. Been calling it for years. Formula E is dead in the water. What does F1 do? Create FE lite. I actually hope the f'in sport implodes. Serves Liberty right. Hope the Saudi's buy it for pennies and bring back amazing engines. I'll deal with it being mostly UAE races.
The price wont be 20bill$ as rumored. If F1 has any measurable loss of popularity the price will drop and fast. HAAS wont be worth a BIL $ will it? FE type racing has been staring F1 in the face for the last 3 yrs. You and me, others have been saying the future of F1 is fluid or literally in doubt potentially. Tying the makers into this is crazy. Audi is ridiculous to join this and they have time to relook this idea. That article is just a nice advert for FE. It reads like FE lol. Ferrari has built an SUV and will build E sportscars as are the others like Porsche. I have been saying F1 is facing an identity crisis. This is just more confirmation of that. If Im a maker Id go with Le Mans style racing instead of F1. F1 is far more expensive and political than needed to enhance battery tech.
I seriously think they'd be lucky to get 10% of that 20b the way things are going. I'd go Le Mans as well. Far more road relevancy.
Funny how people think batteries somehow magically charge themselves. Behind every EV is a some sort of nuclear or fossil fuel for the most part. So in true F1 fashion, let's do half measures and pick the one direction no one wants. Oh yeah... while we're at it... let's go backwards and put 16" wheels on. Where's the road car relevance in that? It's getting harder and harder to be excited by F1. I don't know if I have the interest for 24 races in this current and projected state of things.
That's not the way the auto industry and the governments are going, by the look of things. Even the oil companies are installing charging points for electric cars in their petrol stations ! Nobody is making a case for Synthetic or Biofuels, as far as I can see.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-bull-active-aero-should-not-be-treated-as-patch-for-wider-f1-car-problems/10563548/ Red Bull: Active aero should not be treated as "patch" for wider F1 car problems Formula 1 must not treat active aerodynamics as a quick “patch” for bigger problems with the proposed 2026 car concept, according to Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache. Author Matt Kew Co-author Alex Kalinauckas Updated Jan 8, 2024, 10:12 AM The 2026 engine rules increase the reliance on the electrified part of the hybrid powertrain - it will produce 50% of total power - while the expensive Motor Generator Unit–Heat has been ditched. But initial data supplied to teams led to fears of ‘Frankenstein cars’, with Max Verstappen claiming he was downshifting on straights in simulator runs to compensate for massive power drop offs. As such, F1 is expected to adopt active front and rear wings for the chassis technical regulations in a bid to reduce drag. But Wache warns that these quick fixes, with the engine framework dictating car design, must not distract the championship from addressing the deeper-rooted issues. Speaking exclusively to Autosport about the straight-line capabilities of the next-generation cars, he said: “The speed is going down and the feeling is not so nice. The FIA works with the teams on how this energy will be deployed to make it less annoying for the driver and to have a better speed profile throughout the lap. “Plus, they also work on the car characteristics to have less drag and less downforce. By having less downforce, you recover more energy because you spend more time in the corners and in the braking zones, and then you spend less time on straights.” Asked about the role active aerodynamics can play, Wache replied: “You cannot put patch on patch on patch to achieve something. You have to look at the problem with a bigger view and say, ‘How do I sort this out and how do I solve my problem? What car characteristic do I need to achieve something?’ “If you need a patch to solve some things, you can still do that afterwards. But you don’t start with a patch first. Otherwise, it never works.”
I do not mind the build-out of the EV infrastructure. What I do watch (with glee) is millions upon millions of unsold EVs sitting on dealers lots. USA will not be going all EV any time soon.
Maybe there is no government incentive like there is in Europe. We have already seen the US getting cold feet about the Kyoto Agreement under Trump. In the European Union, there is a decarbonisation program in place with deadlines. The sale of ICE vehicles will be banned in 2035, and by 2040, we are told, thermic power will disappear from our roads. Most manufacturers aim at selling EVs only by 2030. We will see how it goes. Let's not forget that the biggest market, yes China, is going full electric.
Yes, yes:: I have hears and watched all that rattling over in Europe. But consider:: when you add up shipping, airlines, and farming; you cant get rid of the last 25%-30% of oil consumption. a) nobody can build a container ship that can cross the ocean (at speed) and be EV. b) nobody can build an airliner that carries 300 passengers across oceans and be EV. c) when a farmer is out harvesting, those combines get used 18 hours a day. EV farm equipment can only run for 6 hours before recharge; and you can't put yourself in a position to let 2/3rds of your harvest rot. Oh, and BTW, with the amount of carbon already in the air, the Earth will continue to warm for the next 50 years, even if we got to 0-carbon tomorrow. There is little practical chance of keeping the temperature under 3.3ºC with they way things are currently going. So, we have no trajectory for getting carbon down below the levels seen just before WW2. And, over here, there is no political stomach for even trying....... I suspect the Russia-Ukraine war will alter the trajectory of Europe to push EVs farther into the future.
I have great faith that all these concerns will be solved in future. That will be the job of future generations. Young engineers are bright and very keen on ecology compared to my generation (74+): they are the ones who voted all that stuff. I believe there are solutions, all is needed is govenments giving an incentive. a) More containers could be transported by rail. Already railfreight can travel from China to Western Europen in 10 days (through the Silk Road), compared to 22 days minimum by ship through the Suez Canal. The infrastructure needs to be developed to deal with the volume , but the alternative to big polluting ships is already viable, as far as Europe is concerned. Maybe it's time to consider switching to nuclear power for commercial shipping? The Russian already use atomic ice-breaker cargo ships in the Artic. b) E-fuels are being tested in aircraft as we speak. Carbon free airliners are just round the corner, I reckon. c) combined harvesters aren't used everyday of the year, AFAIK.
I got that wrong: "The 11,179 km route takes 13 to 16 days to reach Duisburg (Germany) from Chongqing (China), compared to the 36-day container ship transport time as well as being safer and less expensive, according to Chongqing authorities.
They will sell tomorrow, don't worry. BMW Munich plant to cease ICE car production in 2027 Neue Klasse EVs will be made at the site from 2026, closing the curtain on 75 years of combustion engine output BMW Munich plant to cease ICE car production in 2027 | Autocar
I was all about the EV movement until I realized the amount of carbon cost and environmental damage BEFORE the car even gets made. Now I fully understand that we have to go through these phases to get to a point where the battery technology advances to the size of baseball and is made of something that doesn't destroy the environment and create artisan mines (read slave style mining in corrupt countries). Let's not even talk about most local grids completely unable to handle any sort of significant shift to batteries... nor the increase in fossil fuels to make the energy. I wish we'd parallel develop other technologies like hydrogen or bio-fuels on a real scale.
It's the energy crisis, back in 1974 that opened my eyes, when the OPEC countries overnight ramped up the price of crude oil by 40% and immediatly affected the economy in Europe. That put the price of petrol so high folks couldn't afford to go to work, factories had to close, there was soon no street lights, etc ... This is where many people in Europe realised that we were completely dependent from the Middle East for our energy. The sheiks in Arabia were holding us by the balls, and squeezing them at will ! No money? no crude=no energy= no life !! I have been a supporter of alternative energy since then. Electricity seems the best alternative, since there are so many way to produce it, plus an existing distribution network reaching everywhere. Also, all other sources of energy like hydrogen or bio-fuels need ... electricity for production.
Plant more trees, travel less. And by travel I mean travel to work, not actual travel on holiday, impact of the latter is minimal. There's an awful lot of people that travel daily to work for stuff they can do either from home or a much smaller regional office no more than 10 minutes from home.
That was an easy lesson learned during COVID but management is obsessed with control and having folks inside expensive office real estate, that has been proven in many cases to not be needed or needed as often.
You're right... many ways to alternatively produce energy, but it doesn't matter what you do, you have a vocal liberal opposition group throwing a monkey wrench in everything that's done. Wind farm... you kill the birds. Dams... you kill the fish. It doesn't matter. Also... all that has to be stored into batteries and that technology does more harm to the environment than just about anything so it's sort of a zero sum game until technology reaches a meaningful improvement. I even read a story that they had to run massive diesel generators at one wind farm to keep them from being damaged by the cold weather.
