Every time someone talks about Mercedes favouritism you say "booh, conspiracy theory". And now you come with this? Many European countries actually are subsidizing EVs. And still don´t sell. . And there are +3000 hp ICE engines too, but how far can they go? F1 should be the pinnacle. When electric cars are the pinnacle, then F1 should be electric. But not yet.
well it wouldn't. because Formula E holds exclusive rights for the electric snooze fest. So they can't.
I mentioned market resistance, because many car users don't have access to energy points in Europe, since they don't have a garage. Governments don't encourage (enough, if any) putting energy points in the Streets, parking areas, etc ... they still make much money from fossil fuels. Subsidies for electric cars go up and down lile a yoyo, and are not reliable when planning a new purchase. Some European countries will ban outright the sale of ICE vehicles between 2025 and 2030. According to the stats, Norway sells more electric cars than ICE cars; I know it's a small market, but it's an example of what could be realised. I mentioned 1000+hp electric motors to show that the present F1 units can easily be matched, and at a fraction of the price too. People think an electric formula means the cars would be limited to the present FE power.
The issue is that electric cars can´t match petrol engines yet. They can... for a little while, but a 1000 hp engine with an autonomy (real autonomy, I mean racing, not just cruising on the highway) of, let´s say, only 100 km would need a trailer behind to carry the battery. People are already complaining about how heavy the cars are in modern F1... The same applies for road cars. They´re freakin´expensive and still many people who could afford one are not willing to take the risk of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere because the car run out of battery like a mobile phone. The electric car still doesn´t suit everybody, and I think that still doesn´t suit racing, except in Formula E, that is like the city car of single seaters.
Horner was foolish if he really did make that offer. Not so long ago, he was saying that Alonso left chaos everywhere.
Source Auto Express "New Porsche Taycan prototype covers 3,425km in 24 hours A pre-production version of the all-electric Porsche Taycan has covered more than 2,000 miles in just 24 hours at the Nardo test track A prototype version of the all-electric Porsche Taycan saloon has covered 3,425km (2,128 miles) in just 24 hours at the Nardo test track in Italy. During the run, a team of six Porsche development drivers averaged between 121mph and 134mph, with only a handful of stops for recharging and driver changes. The new Porsche Taycan will make its official debut at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s the German brand’s first electric vehicle and, when it goes on sale in 2020, it will go head-to-head with the Tesla Model S." And yes, it's over 88mph average over 24 hours, stops included ... So much for lack of range and the time it takes to recharge the batteries !!!
Porsche made a promo stunt and you're trying to sell that to me. Pleaaseeee... An average of 140 kph at an oval is ****. 3400 km at Nardo (essentially, an infinite straight) in 24 hours is ****. The same could be done with a 1 litre turbo Ford Fiesta at a fraction of the cost. And as I've said, when I said real autonomy I meant REAL autonomy: hard acceleration, hard breaking and cornering. Unless you have something better to say, let's agree in disagreeing and leave it here.
To obtain the rights to run an electric formula if it wants to. You said they were prevented from doing that at the moment.
There are opinions on both side of this arguments, and opponents obviously tend to depict electric cars as a lunacy. In fact electric power has made huge progress, and is a viable alternative to ICE.
I can't believe full electric is the way to go. For the past 20 years I believed that fuel cells powering electric motors and fueled by hydrogen is the way forward. But unfortunately, the technology has not developed that fast. From financial forecasts 20 years ago, fuel cells were to be in production 10 years ago, and we are still a long way away. Full electric, unless some battery breakthrough happens, isn't going anywhere. We still lack the low cost electric production capacity and the distribution. And I think the longer term forecasts are that full electric will only take 10% of the market. Good that racing happens, but we are still a long way off to replacing internal combustion engines.
FA with better things to do- https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/27424350/alonso-embarks-test-programme-2020-dakar-rally