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Formula E's first season of electric racing comes to a close
After several months of occasionally intense competition, Formula E's first season of all-electric racing is over. Virgin Racing's Sam Bird has won the second race of the London ePrix, while NEXTEV TCR's Nelson Piquet managed to do just well enough (seventh place) to win the overall driver's title by a single point. Not that Piquet's chief rival, Sebastien Buemi, is about to cry -- he secured the team title for E.dams-Renault after winning the first London race on June 27th.
E.Dams-Renault wins Formula E's first team title
The all-electric Formula E racing league is on the cusp of finishing its inaugural season, and it's already handing out the first prizes. The E.dams-Renault team has clinched the Formula E's first-ever team title after drivers Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost respectively placed first and seventh in the initial race of the London ePrix, giving the organization a secure lead over Audi. The event wasn't as exciting as others (Buemi took the lead early and held it), but it sets up what should be a fierce rivalry for the driver's title in the last race on June 28th. Buemi is now just a stone's throw away from frontrunner Nelson Piquet -- you can be sure that both EV racers will be determined to finish out in front.
Formula E adds extra race to season climax at London's Battersea Park
The UK's Donington Park racetrack was chosen as the official home of Formula E last year, so it was only fitting that the final race of the inaugural championship be held in Blighty, too. The plan has always been to close out the season in London, but you can't exactly turn part of the capital into a racing circuit without cutting through reams of red tape. The initial proposal to transform Battersea Park into a makeshift track was approved late last year, but race organisers can breath a further sigh of relief as full planning permission has now been granted by Wandsworth Council. This was essential, as there would be no ePrix without the temporary facilities required for race teams and spectators alike. The Battersea Park racetrack -- the layout of which is yet to be finalised -- won't host just one event, though, as the FIA has also announced the London leg will become a double-header, with separate races being held on June 27th and 28th.
Formula 1 is testing a 'virtual safety car'
Safety vehicles are sometimes as dangerous to racing drivers as actual competition -- Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi recently crashed into a recovery tractor sent out for an earlier accident, for instance. They may be less of an unintentional threat if a virtual safety car (VSC) trial at the US Grand Prix pans out. Instead of using a lead car to slow things down during yellow flags, the system relies on dashboard displays that tell racers to stay under a given speed limit; they face penalties if they go over. The technology is only being used in practice sessions this weekend, but the FIA is working with teams to determine just when VSC is viable for honest-to-goodness races.
Formula E's first race ends in spectacular fashion
Worried that the all-electric Formula E racing league will somehow be less exciting than its gas-powered Formula 1 counterpart? Don't be. The inaugural Beijing race ended on Saturday with about as much drama as you'd expect from conventional motorsports. The last lap involved a neck-and-neck battle between Renault's Nicolas Prost and Venturi's Nick Heidfeld that ended in a spectacular crash at the last corner (shown below); Prost says he inadvertently clipped Heidfeld while jockeying for position. Audi's Lucas di Grassi ultimately claimed the historic first win by waltzing past his wrecked rivals. There's no guarantees that the upcoming Malaysia race will produce such a spectacular finish, but it's clear that eco-friendly competitions don't necessarily lead to friendly driving.
Formula E racers unite to accelerate EV innovation
A new, high-profile and all-electric motorsport will debut on the city streets of Beijing this September, and it's called Formula E. While it's a form of entertainment like any racing series, the championship has a far greater aspiration than just putting on a good show, and that's to accelerate the development of new technology that can benefit consumer EVs. "The real purpose is to drive innovation... to put the most talented engineers onto a problem and solve it," Sylvain Filippi, Chief Technology Officer of the Virgin Racing team, told us.
Gran Turismo creator, FIA plot to 'revitalize' motorsport
Following a recent collaboration with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in which the FIA lent official certification to a number of Gran Turismo 6 tracks - a first for any racing game - series mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi took to Reddit to explain his plans for this new partnership. "In the collaboration that was announced with the FIA, my objective now is to really revitalize and reconstruct motorsports," Yamauchi wrote. "That's also the dream of the FIA chairman and so that's the goals that we're working toward." "The last message in the FIA press conference was that this is for the expansion and prosperity of motorsports for the next 100 years. That's exactly it - I've always wanted motorsports to become as popular as football or soccer and my feelings haven't changed regarding that." For those unaware, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit that governs a massive number of motorsport events around the world. It represents 213 organizations in 125 countries, and is widely seen as the world authority in racing high-tech, exotic vehicles. Obviously it would behoove the FIA to raise interest in motorsport, which ties right into Yamauchi's stated goals to push the sport to new heights of popularity via his development team's fan-favorite racing simulation. [Image: Sony]
Formula E details Spark-Renault's SRT_01E electric race car
If you plan to watch the inaugural Formula E season, you'll want to get used to the race car shown above -- you'll see a lot of it. That's the just-unveiled Spark-Renault SRT_01E, the official electric vehicle that all 10 Formula E teams will use next year. The car melds a Spark Racing Technology design with a McLaren-sourced, 270BHP equivalent motor based on that of the P1 supercar. Williams supplies the batteries, while Renault is responsible for tying all the systems together. As you'd imagine, this first-generation ride has its limitations; drivers will have to swap cars in the middle of an hour-long race, for example. Still, the FIA is quick to remind us that the SRT_01E won't last beyond the 2014 season. Formula E is an open championship meant to advance EV technology, and manufacturers are likely to produce faster or more efficient cars in the future.
Qualcomm's Halo wireless charging tech headed to Formula E, safety cars get first dibs
Ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, Qualcomm has come out to announce that it'll be bringing its Halo wireless charging technology to the first-ever Formula E electric vehicle race next year. But before y'all get too excited, only the safety cars will be equipped with Halo for the first season, which goes from September 2014 to June 2015 in London, Rome, Berlin, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles and many more places. As with these safety cars plus trial vehicles from London taxi firm Addison Lee, the current-gen Halo requires electric vehicles to stay still on large charging pads, which isn't ideal for racing cars. That said, Qualcomm CMO Anand Chandrasekher told us that his folks are already looking into bringing dynamic charging to racing cars starting in the second season. In other words, these battery-powered vehicles will eventually be able to recharge while still running on the race track!
Fox Sports becomes official Formula E broadcaster
What good is an EV racing league like Formula E if there's no way to watch it? Not much, which is why the FIA has reached a deal making Fox Sports the official Formula E broadcaster. The agreement gives Fox a US exclusive for TV coverage as well as a mixture of exclusive and non-exclusive rights (including online content) in over 80 regions. We won't know if Fox is truly ready for the job until the first Formula E race begins in September 2014, but it won't be hard to tune in.
Drayson Racing sets electric land speed record at 204.2MPH (video)
Nissan's ZEOD RC may sound fast at 186MPH, but it's a slow poke next to Drayson Racing's B12/69EV. The modified Le Mans car just broke the FIA's land speed record, hitting 204.2MPH on a course at the former RAF Elvington base in Yorkshire. While Drayson is quick to admit that the 850HP racer is unusual, it sees the project as groundwork for both a 2015 Formula E car and technologies that could filter down to regular vehicles. The speed record also gives electric racing more credibility at a crucial moment -- when EVs are just starting to rival gas-powered counterparts on the track, any leap in performance can help.
LA is on the Formula E schedule next year, electric racer hits the streets to celebrate
The FIA's upcoming Formula E series has revealed two US dates on its début 2014 calendar (Los Angeles, Miami) and yesterday it took to LA's streets to promote the partnership. For Earth Day, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa welcomed Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag downtown along with a Formula E racecar for the exhibition. The race will run on downtown streets next year, although the exact route the 140MPH-capable EVs will take has yet to be locked down. Unfortunately there's no video of the event so while you can't not-hear its electric engine humming along as it burned rubber in the streets, the pictures in this gallery and video from its Moscow and Rome exhibitions will have to do. Update: Now there is a video available of yesterday's event, shot from onboard Lucas di Grassi's car. You can find it embedded after the break, complete with high pitched electric whine.%Gallery-186548%
Rome to bring Formula E to Europe, joins a growing eco-racing scene
Although Formula E racing is still very much in its infancy, all the ingredients are quickly coming into place: Rome has just volunteered itself as the first European city to host the electric-only circuit. It's just the second city to enlist for the league following Rio de Janeiro's move in August, but it gives the league a truly international reach as well as a fifth of the 10 urban racetracks it needs for the initial 2014 season. Additional cities are expected in the weeks ahead, and should quickly lead to a solidified race itinerary, the FIA says. Having Rome onside won't get cars to the starting line any sooner, but it may underscore Formula E's advantages in noise and pollution over gas-powered leagues -- when its cars can race around the Colosseum without creating a ruckus, other cities (and spectators) might just follow suit.
Formula 1 cars set to go all electric in the pit lane from 2013 onwards, racing purists outraged already
Formula 1, the pinnacle of gas-powered racing, is more often at odds with the eco-conscious electric car movement than in tune with it, but here's an exception to that rule. The FIA, the sport's governing body, announced back in December of last year a move to a hybrid four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which is still on track to be introduced in the 2013 season, and Williams boss Adam Parr has now enlightened us on some of the benefits of the new power setup. Noting that future cars' kinetic energy recovery system will be four times as powerful as on current models, Parr says enough electric juice will be available to power each one-seater through its journey into and out of the pit lane. That would mean that at least for the tame, speed-restricted portions of a race, the F1 gas guzzlers you know and love will be humming along in almost perfect silence while using good old electricity. Unfortunately, it's exactly that lack of vroom vroom that old timers like Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo are afraid of, describing the new hybrid stuff as sounding "terrible" and insisting on the sport sticking to its V8 roots. Then again, as Parr says, if you don't move with the times, the times leave you behind.
World Touring Car Championship is the first FIA racing series in HD
The first FIA World Championship has scheduled its switch to high definition -- unfortunately, it isn't F1. Still, World Touring Car Championship fans can expect sweet sweet HD from track side and RF cameras (on board is still 16:9 SD) on nine of the season's twelve events, starting in the third week from Marrakech. No word on which broadcasters will air the races in HD other than that "several" plan to, but we hope this is just a test run before we get a clearer view from all the Formula One events soon -- c'mon Bernie, you're not going to let NASCAR and Indy stay ahead, are you?[Via F1SA]
