Will Formula E Cars Really Go Faster?
Formula E, formally the ABB Formula E World Series, is an electric car racing championship for electric-powered cars. The series was first launched in 2021 in Paris by FIA President Jean Todt. Since its inception, there are more than 20 teams competing in the races in Europe, with the United States and Asia also hosting upcoming races.
As far as I’m concerned, Formula E is one of the most advanced forms of motor sport racing currently on the market and it’s only going to get better. The future of Formula E is very bright because we’ve already seen the evolution of the technology that allows a Formula E race car to power itself along the track using no external power source at all – kind of like a sailboat without a sail. The race cars will have battery packs that store energy during the race and then use that stored energy to power the race car ahead of other cars, and then push it again if need be. This is called ‘Vibrating Screens’ and it’s set to be one of the main features of the Formulae season.
Will that mean a faster race? Certainly, but not by enough to make the cars go from zero to 60 mph in less than four hours. However, because of the new technologies involved, the power output will certainly increase considerably over the remaining races in 2021. So I see the possibility of an overtaking challenge from cars using VSC (Vehicle Windscreen Covers) or IHT (Intelligent High-tech Torque Distribution) system, which monitors and modifies the torque of the electric motors. In fact, some team managers say they expect such technology to make the race a lot harder, although I can’t see how that could be, since most races are pretty straightforward anyway.