Here’s an electric vehicle update that sounds ridiculous: Battery-powered cars are being used in an auto racing circuit patterned after Europe’s famous Formula 1 series.
If it sounds ridiculous, that’s just about the only sound coming from the cars, according to The Washington Post, which sent a reporter to a “Formula E” event in Italy.
“The racecars rocketed past the grandstands, emitting nothing more than a mechanical whir,” the Post reported. “The tires hummed. Almost nobody in the crowd wore earplugs, as they might in Formula 1. As the cars zipped through the first few turns ... they sounded no louder than electric toothbrushes.”
Maybe that’s a measure of progress. Racing vehicles sound like toothbrushes.
How odd must it be to go to an auto race without dozens of throaty engines roaring? Even the crashes are tamer, which is a good thing: Because the cars aren’t carrying volatile fuel, there’s nothing that will explode if cars collide or go off course.
A Formula E race does plenty of other things differently. Because batteries still have limitations, the race is a relatively short one. The one the Post covered was 58 miles. A Formula 1 grand prix event typically runs 190 miles.
There are no pit stops allowed in most Formula E races, and no tire changes in order to keep the event more environmentally friendly. The scoreboard includes each car’s energy level, since battery conservation is an essential part of the strategy.
And get this: The race cars line up with their batteries only 60% charged. The cars can go up to 200 mph, but they can’t travel at high speeds all the time because they’d run out of electricity. So racers travel in packs to reduce wind resistance. They also try to brake or decelerate often, because those moves spin an EV motor in reverse, sending current back into the battery. Charging the battery in this manner is a key to winning a race.
Formula 1 and its electric brother are different from the NASCAR and Indy Car racing to which Americans are accustomed. European tracks are rarely oval shaped; courses have several sharp turns that force drivers to slow down.
Frankly, Formula E doesn’t sound all that enticing, although it would be fascinating to watch 20 or 30 cars traveling silently at high speeds. Cars all bunched up sounds more like an urban traffic jam than a race.
But Formula E does have two things going for it. Global car brands like Porsche, Jaguar and Nissan have teams, and use the circuit as a testing ground for technology. Some of the coming electric vehicle improvements probably will be hatched at these races.
Also, you never can tell what will catch on with the public. Who would have thought that pickleball would be so popular? Who would have forecast that companies like Netflix would take over television from the broadcast networks?
So don’t count Formula E racing out just yet. But don’t get too loud about it, either.
