Several major automakers are set to enter the Formula E electric racing championship for the next season and now Porsche has officially been included as a manufacturer by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) today.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Bernie Ecclestone is no stranger to controversial statements. The 87-year-old former Formula One executive who ran the series for decades can’t go more than a few weeks without voicing an idea about the trajectory of the series which leaves people scratching their heads. Once, he floated an idea to install sprinklers on tracks to simulate rain-affected races. More recently, he’s had several complaints about engine noise – he thinks they need to be louder.
But Ecclestone’s most recent statement is the first we’ve found worthy of coverage on Electrek: he now thinks that F1 should go electric, by 2021.
Formula E, now known as ABB Formula E, says that “today marks the start of a new era of electric racing.”
The racing championship unveiled its next-generation electric race car that will power the next season.
Expand
Expanding
Close
After a few months on break and a few updates to the rules and teams, Formula E starts their fourth season this weekend with two races in Hong Kong – one on Saturday, one on Sunday. Last year’s champion Lucas Di Grassi will see if he can defend his win from Sebastian Buemi, who was dominant all season but ended up in second place after missing two crucial races in New York City. Buemi’s team, Renault e.dams, is back to defend their three-straight team titles – the only team to win a championship since the series began.
There are a few changes this year, but the technological changes are only slight, with max power output increasing from 170kW to 180kW. The big shakeup will happen next year, as more manufacturers join the competition and the cars get a new chassis, new battery and 250kW of power. Nevertheless, the racing should continue to be close and exciting as it has been since the sport’s inception in 2014.
Nissan becomes the latest automaker to announce that it will be joining the Formula E electric car racing championship with its own team.
They will join in the 2018-19 season when things will start to get more interesting with the new electric race car platform and as individual teams get more freedom.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The Panasonic Jaguar Racing team unveiled the latest version of their all-electric Formula E race car for the upcoming season of the racing championship today and confirmed that Mitch Evans and former Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr. will drive the vehicles.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The season 3 of the Formula E all-electric championship just concluded and it marks further progress in the electric motorsport’s attempt to become mainstream and attract more fans.
What better way to try to attract more fans than with crashes, which Formula E compiled in a new video.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The first few seasons of the all-electric Formula E championship have been more successful than most motorsport fans would have ever predicted.
Over the past few months, it managed to convince Audi and BMW to take spots for future seasons and this week, Mercedes-Benz has now announced that it will have its own team.
While all those premium automakers are joining the Formula E, Tesla has been surprisingly staying away from the all-electric championship despite being a leader in the development and commercialization of EVs.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Audi has been showing a lot of interest in electric motorsports over the last year – going as far as quitting Le Mans to focus on all-electric Formula E.
They have been increasing their involvement with the ABT Sportsline team and today, they announced that they are officially taking over the team’s slot.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The Formula E, an all-electric racing championship, has been gaining a lot of credibility over the last few year with several serious automotive companies, like Renault, Citroen, Mahindra, Jaguar, and Audi already involved in the championship, as well as a few newcomers like NextEV and Faraday Future.
BMW Motorsport has also been involved through its backing of the MS Amlin Andretti team, but now the German automaker is announcing its intention to enter the season 5 of the racing series with its own team now that it has been approved as a manufacturer.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Roborace, an electric driverless car racing series which is currently still in development, had their first “real” “race” today, driving two DevBots on the same street circuit at the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.
The two cars made their way around the track at a cautious yet respectable pace, with the “winner” reaching a top speed of 115 mph. Unfortunately, the losing car didn’t fare so well, getting itself into an accident and taking itself out of the race.
The all-electric Formula E championship is off to a surprisingly good start since its launch in 2014 considering the level of difficulty associated with establishing a new racing championship.
It is still facing some technological problems, but most of them should be solved in the next generation of the race cars. We are now seeing the first pictures of the new concept.
Expand
Expanding
Close
While Formula E’s electric race car platform is still arguably in the experimental phase and not enough subsystems can be modified, the championship certainly appears to be moving in the right direction. We recently learned that McLaren will soon supply them with a new battery pack technology with the help of Lucid Motors and it should double the energy capacity of the vehicles, as well as help the overall performance.
Several serious automotive companies, like Renault, Citroen, Mahindra, Jaguar, Audi are already involved in the championship, as well as a few newcomers like NextEV and Faraday Future. The latter released today the specifications of their own Formula E electric race car.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Considered part of the “Triple Crown of Motorsport” alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours race, started in 1923, is one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the world. Teams are allowed three drivers and must race to complete the most laps over a 24 hour period, which means that winning cars must show exceptional performance, reliability and efficiency.
As a result of this, the race has been used as a proving ground for many technological advancements, most recently the appearance of hybrid electric vehicles which first raced in 2009 and have won the race every year since 2012.
Audi has absolutely dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans ever since they returned to the race 18 years ago. With 13 wins in those 18 years, they have been the manufacturer to beat at the race. In particular, they are credited with heralding the “diesel era” of the race, leading to diesel-engined winners from ’06-’11, and diesel-electric hybrids from ’12-’14.
So today’s announcement that they would quit the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans race comes as a bit of a shock. Or does it?
Expand
Expanding
Close
In advance of Formula E’s 2017-2018 season start this Sunday in Hong Kong, news came today that Mercedes has signed an “option agreement” reserving their position as one of 12 teams for the 2018-2019 season, up from 10 teams this season.
Mercedes joins a growing list of manufacturers involved in Formula E – Renault, Citroen, Mahindra and NextEV are already team title sponsors, with Jaguar, Audi, and Faraday Future all joining this year, and McLaren recently beating out Porsche and current supplier Williams to supply batteries for the series in the future.
Earlier this year, McLaren confirmed its development of new hybrid powertrains to be introduced in its vehicle lineup and that it was even considering building an all-electric version of the P1 or P1 GTR. Now McLaren will have a great opportunity to showcase its battery technology as it was announced that the British-based automaker won a contract to supply the battery pack for upcoming seasons of the Formula E championship.
Expand
Expanding
Close
For the last two years, Formula E’s season-ending double-header, with two races on the same weekend, took place in London’s Battersea park. But today, Formula E confirmed that the 2016-2017 season finale will be moved to New York City, taking place in Red Hook, Brooklyn in mid-July. The race will be run on city streets near Pier 11 and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. It will be the first FIA-sanctioned open-wheel race ever to take place within the five boroughs of New York City.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Porsche claims that its upcoming first electric vehicle, the Mission E, will be equipped with a new 800-volt charging technology capable of charging a significant battery pack to 80% in just 15 minutes. The Mission E is expected to hit the market by the end of the decade.
If successful, it would be an important step forward for electric vehicles, but the technology could also enable new applications in other segments than passenger cars. For example, it would be very useful to the all-electric championship Formula E and now the German automaker is reportedly seeking to supply the competition with its new battery technology.
Expand
Expanding
Close
We caught a glimpse of it in our post earlier this week about the sounds of the new Formula E race cars, but today Jaguar officially unveils its all-electric ‘I-TYPE’ that will compete in the championship in partnership with battery maker Panasonic.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Of course, sound doesn’t travel in space, but I’m talking about the sci-fi representation of “spaceship sounds”. While some petrol-heads can only enjoy the roar of an engine, a lot of race fans are appreciating the much quieter all-electric Formula E.
The noise levels are approximately 80 dB, which is actually a little higher than the average gas-powered car, but much lower than the Formula One’s 128 dB noise level. And the sounds are pretty cool too.
Expand
Expanding
Close
We are seeing an increased interest for the all-electric Formula E championship by established automakers. After Jaguar creating its own team earlier this year, now Audi announced its increased involvement with the Formula E Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport ahead of the 2016/2017 season starting next.
They are moving from what could more easily be described as a sponsorship to a complete partnership in the program and they unveiled a new race car skin – pictured above.
Expand
Expanding
Close
During the next Formula E season, there will be a self-driving car race before some of the upcoming ePrix races. The new championship is called Roborace. Teams of software engineers will compete on vehicles all equipped with the same hardware and the first working prototype, called ‘DevBot’, is now available for testing.
Expand
Expanding
Close
As we predicted yesterday, electric car startup Faraday Future announced today a partnership with Dragon Racing, an existing team in the Formula E championship, to create a new race team now called ‘Faraday Future Dragon Racing’, which will compete in the Formula E’s next season starting in October.
With the announcement, the team revealed a few images of the vehicle they will race in the championship.
Expand
Expanding
Close
