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15th
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The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has created a brand new championship title for the 2014 season. It's called a “Green” championship, because it focuses on single-seater racers powered by electric engines.
Are you a believer?
For the vast majority of racing fans, a race car that doesn't rumble and roar -- hoarsely or shrilly -- doesn't belong on the track. How many onlookers were disappointed to hear (or rather not to hear) the muted engine of the famous Audi R10 turbo diesel in Le Mans, a few years ago?
All we heard was the wind rushing by, not the raucous rage of the engine. Not a murmur...almost total silence.
Now imagine a stealthy pack of 20 or so EV single-seaters, zipping by in complete silence... those sitting in the stands and terraces could easily chat amongst themselves because there would be zero noise coming from the track!
"It's just not motorsports!" the hard-liners will grumble, having had their eardrums assaulted by the decibel dinfest of the big bad NASCAR V8s and the deafening cacophony of Formula 1 V10s from yesteryear.
But FIA really had no choice, striving at all costs to set up such a series to show its interest in what could transform international racing. Increasingly seen as a wasteful indulgence, traditional racing is starting to be viewed unfavourably by some governments, political parties, ecological organizations, and more and more so by the general public.
Do you think that this step towards “green” racing is inevitable?
In 2014, FIA's Formula E (for Electric) World Championship will apply to 8 of the 10 city circuits coursing through the streets of some of the world's biggest cities, including those in Rome, Los Angeles, Miami, and Beijing.
To this day, the No. 1 problem for EVs is still poor range autonomy and long recharging times for battery packs. And Formula E races are planned to run for 45 minutes.
How well will EVs succeed in covering such distances?
Organizers have come up with a unique way to solve the problem: During the race, every driver must make at least one pitstop... to change cars! And so, the driver restarts behind the wheel of another racing car, this one with fully charged batteries.
An ingenious idea, but nevertheless hard to swallow for some. Are you with the detractors?
Are you a believer?
For the vast majority of racing fans, a race car that doesn't rumble and roar -- hoarsely or shrilly -- doesn't belong on the track. How many onlookers were disappointed to hear (or rather not to hear) the muted engine of the famous Audi R10 turbo diesel in Le Mans, a few years ago?
All we heard was the wind rushing by, not the raucous rage of the engine. Not a murmur...almost total silence.
Now imagine a stealthy pack of 20 or so EV single-seaters, zipping by in complete silence... those sitting in the stands and terraces could easily chat amongst themselves because there would be zero noise coming from the track!
"It's just not motorsports!" the hard-liners will grumble, having had their eardrums assaulted by the decibel dinfest of the big bad NASCAR V8s and the deafening cacophony of Formula 1 V10s from yesteryear.
But FIA really had no choice, striving at all costs to set up such a series to show its interest in what could transform international racing. Increasingly seen as a wasteful indulgence, traditional racing is starting to be viewed unfavourably by some governments, political parties, ecological organizations, and more and more so by the general public.
Do you think that this step towards “green” racing is inevitable?
In 2014, FIA's Formula E (for Electric) World Championship will apply to 8 of the 10 city circuits coursing through the streets of some of the world's biggest cities, including those in Rome, Los Angeles, Miami, and Beijing.
To this day, the No. 1 problem for EVs is still poor range autonomy and long recharging times for battery packs. And Formula E races are planned to run for 45 minutes.
How well will EVs succeed in covering such distances?
Organizers have come up with a unique way to solve the problem: During the race, every driver must make at least one pitstop... to change cars! And so, the driver restarts behind the wheel of another racing car, this one with fully charged batteries.
An ingenious idea, but nevertheless hard to swallow for some. Are you with the detractors?