Formula E

[BarryBobPosthole]

Yep, its a thing. For longer than you think. Anyone watched any of the races? I imagine Thumper is two thumbs down, curmudgeon that he is.
Jaguar has a team and Tag Heuer. They call the races eprix.
Huh.
Is it on tv here?
BKB

https://www.fiaformulae.com/

[Thumper]

Ha! I tried watching a couple of e races a few years back. The batteries didn't last and they'd come in for a pit stop to "fuel up" so to speak, but they'd actually CHANGE FRIGGING CARS! WTF? I think the technology has caught up and that's been done away with now, but I just haven't tried watching since the early days.

They need to install a big ol' set of speakers to play the sound of a big ol' American V-8 while they're racing. 'Course the amp and speakers would take away too much battery power, so I guess we're stuck with listening to a bunch of grandma's Singer sewing machines whizzing by. I guess if it weren't for the straight-cut gears, you wouldn't even hear them. Like racing golf carts!

[quercus alba]

Oh car racing, I thought maybe they had developed a Rogaine/Grecian formula hybrid with Thumper in mind

[Thumper]

Bite me!

Here ya' go. Can't you just feel that rumble in your chest? :banghead


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[BarryBobPosthole]

The story I listened to on NPR about it said they’re using technology that is now used on electric passenger cars that charges the batteries when the car is braking or slowing down. Racing has produced a lot of innovations.
BKB

[Thumper]

Racing has produced a lot of innovations. BKB

Yessir, very true. Same as the space program. Interesting times.

My brother is TOTALLY immersed in the electric bicycle rage going on right now. 'Course, he IS in Northern California ... just sayin'.

I told him I'm pretty big into it myownfineself!

12671

[DeputyDog]

The system they use is called KERS. Kinetic energy recovery system. Formula 1 also uses it to an extent to gain a hp boost and INDYCAR is implementing it in their new engine formula coming out in 2023.


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[Thumper]

Well, I watched the Formula E races this weekend, but just couldn’t get excited. Sounded like a golf cart race … no engine noise, just the whirring of electric motors. To make it even weirder, half the race was inside a covered stadium, then they go out the door, around the parking lot and back into the building! Then, weird on top of weird! In the Berlin race, some of the crews realized cutting through the pits was shorter than staying on the track. The pit road speed was 50kmh and the pace car paced the caution laps at 50kph, so three or four cars zipped through pit lane and came out in front of the field! WTF?

Ok, so for the England races this weekend, they made a rule change. They lowered pit road speed and required anyone entering pit road had to stop in their pit box. One crew did the math, figured that even at 35 kph AND stopping, pit road was so much shorter, it would still be an advantage! A caution came out near the end of the race and the dufe in 8th place, scooted down pit road, stopped at his pit and immediately continued on down pit road. Ha! He went from 8th to 1st place UNDER CAUTION!! The powers that be went nuts and the argument continued through the rest of the race. The final ruling was, although he stopped (as required by the rules), he didn’t stop LONG ENOUGH! Double WTF? So he “won” the race, THEN the officials came up with the “yes he stopped, but he didn’t stop long enough” determination (even though the NEW rule only said he had to come to a complete stop)!

I think these “Boy Scout” officials have a bit of work to do.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Sounds like a young series that has a lot of stuff to work out. What kind of speeds are they racing? What network did you find it on?

BKB

[Thumper]

I think CBS has the contract for all of the races here. I kept wondering what the speeds were myself, but never heard them mentioned. I’ll admit, I wasn’t glued to the set, so may have missed it. It was a pretty tight track, mostly turns (inside domed stadium and the parking lot), so I doubt they were anything terribly exciting, although they can supposedly hit 174 mph on an open track. All they showed for speed during the race was lap times, which meant nothing to me.

[DeputyDog]

The biggest complaint I’ve seen about Formula E is the lack of noise.

They are governed by the FIA and a lot of the rules don’t make sense. Just look at how they steward a Formula 1 race.

There is huge money in it though. The drivers make a ton of money and a lot of the European manufacturers are heavily involved like Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes, Nissan, and Porsche.


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[Thumper]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the guy who “won” the race by running down pit road, was put back into 8th place after they decided to penalize him for not stopping “long enough”. Ha! Total confusion!

[BarryBobPosthole]

Soounds like itd be the perfect kind of race to turn the sound down and put on some Bob Seger.

BKB

[Thumper]

May as well, the only thing you hear is the announcers. I’ll tell you what it reminds me of, back in the day I used to go to the Daytona 500 with a bigwig with Shell Oil. We’d be in the Executive Suites with full bar, catered food, etc. The whole front of the suite was glass with theater type chairs and a bird’s eye view of the track. Problem was (to me), you could sit there and have a normal conversation without raising your voice, because the room was silent as far as the cars were concerned. They had a big screen TV set up, but the volume was muted so everyone could “socialize”. All I could ever think of was how much I’d rather be in the stands, or preferably the infield, where I could actually “feel” the sounds of the race.