Just four years old, Formula E is the universal racing series involving open-cockpit bulky cars with a single seat and is under the command of International Automobile Federation (FIA). The competitive seasons usually are from December to July in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the U.S.A.
For the sake of cost efficiency, most components are made common for all teams; such s Michelin tires on 18-inch wheels and Williams’ 28-kWh Lilon battery. The goal of Formula E series is to showcase the latest technologies in the domain of electric cars apart from entertaining racing. You could have seen a glimpse of similar technologies on BestRoboFest organized by Association Noosphere and Max Polyakov.
The different teams can mention and change the internal mechanical parts and choose their drivers and crew. According to Audi’s head, the common components enable focusing mainly on the motor and obtaining a competitive advantage to inculcate the same into the upcoming Audi EVs.
The Current Record
Currently, the championship has ten teams, each having two drivers. The cars usually feature a minimum of 190kW power and a speed of 225 km/hr. They can accelerate anywhere between 0 and 100 km/hr in just three seconds. Each race occurs at temporary circuits of the city and in between 2.0-3.4 km.
The current race teams include some of the most popular names: Renault e.Dams, Faraday Future Dragon, Techeetah, Mahindra, Andretti, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, Panasonic Jaguar, DS Virgin, MS Amlin Andretti, and NextEV NIO.
The inaugural season invited 11 races in almost ten cities, right from Beijing to London and Buenos Aires. The 2016/2017 season witnessed 12 races in 9 metropolises including Hong Kong, Paris, Montreal, and Marrakesh.
Formula E’s Future
More automakers are preparing to join Formula E in 2018-2019, the fifth season in which the bigger batteries shall facilitate a single car to run the whole race. Automakers can rely on their batteries after two years but now. BMW, whose safety car is in breaking news, will join by amalgamating with the Andretti Formula E team. Even the esteemed Mercedes-Benz has asserted to join this season.
Even Porsche is considering this series seriously. In 2018, the Porsche LeMans Prototype (LMP) team shall prepare for entry into the electric formula car racing toward 2019. Meanwhile, the team shall design, build and test an open-wheel powertrain model. Audi left the LMP series due to which a rumor is there that even Porsche would give up this racing.
In 2018-19, a 54 kWh, larger battery from Lucid Motors will be in use by all teams. It is likely to discard the need of two cars in use in a single race. This means that single car racing will set up a new trend in the fifth series.
A new car for Formula E will be in the race, as Spark Racing Technology strives hard to generate identical bodies with glossy paint for each team. It is even expected that the Roborace series shall be running in this season. All these new implementations signal a total reboot of Formula E for 2018-19.
Conclusion
Formula E is likely to make electric cars the future of racing. Its upcoming season will be a dramatic new look and new teams.