Hey America, Formula E is no joke

"MojoMotors.com" (MojoMotors)
09/15/2014 at 11:19 • Filed to: FORMULA E

The newest edition to the racing world has debuted with a bang. On Saturday, drivers took to the course in the inaugural FIA Formula E Round 1 in Beijing, fighting for a place in the history books as the first driver ever to win a Formula E race.

In lap 25 of 25, it came down to Nick Heidfeld of Germany who drives for Leonardo DiCaprio's race team and Nicolas Prost of France. Heidfeld made his move, accelerating to the outside. The two cars collided, resulting in a spectacular crash that ended with Heidfeld upside down, uninjured but shaken. Brazillian driver, Lucas di Grassi, ended up taking the win for Audi Sport.

At 150mph, Formula E cars only reach speeds two thirds as fast as their Formula One brethren, yet the new electric vehicles offer their own excitement. Apart from the technological feats required to master the nascent technology of electric racers, this crash demonstrated the dynamic acceleration capabilities of these vehicles.

Formula E might be the only motorsport that is quiet enough to allow music to be played throughout the race, but clearly it is no joke. It is also clear that some Formula E drivers are not yet acclimated to the capabilities of their new vehicles. Heidfeld's last minute decision to attempt an overtake took Prost by surprise and has publicly apologized to his friend via Twitter, "I understand that I am responsible. I just did not see him, feel very bad."

The winner of the inaugural race, Lucas di Grassi, is likely the driver who is most comfortable being powered by a battery. He was the FIA's first official test driver during the development of the Formula E Series. If this first race has shown us anything, it is that we can expect even more excitement as drivers gain more experience and EV technology continues to evolve.

Given the waning popularity of open wheel racing in the US, it is no surprise that there isn't much buzz around Formula E. Tesla has succeeded in proving to Americans that EVs can be sexy, but the company is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and we're all still waiting for that "affordable" Tesla Model 3 that Elon promised us.

We've got a long way to go before Formula E takes over our weekends, but maybe that will change once Tesla enters a car in the race, or once we've had it it with the National Football League. If you're interested, the next installment of the ten-race inaugural season will broadcast from Malaysia on November 22.

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Original story here

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DISCUSSION (36)

For Sweden > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:26

A 2 AM race capturing a nation's imagination

GhostZ > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:26

Kinja'd!!!

I just realized. The lack of MASSIVE DOWNFORCE in favor of reduced drag has put us in the same stupidly dangerous Group C / 80s F1 era again, just electric. Holy shit, this series just got a lot more interesting.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:32

Very interesting! Where can Formula E be watched? What channel does it air on? Or is there a way to watch online?

edit: just looked at the video again, "SPEED" seems to be the channel to watch it on?

mcseanerson > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:32

I wonder if all the tree huggers are trying to figure out where the smoke is coming from.

MojoMotors.com > GhostZ
09/15/2014 at 11:33

That's a good point. Even if these babies don't go as fast as F1 cars, the lack of downforce is clearly a problem.

extraspecialbitter > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:33

I am interested. Also, I'll follow Quick Nick anywhere.

TurnDownForWatt > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:35

What in that video showed you a "lack of downforce"? He got slammed sideways, spun and launched over the curbing like a ramp. All the downforce in the world isn't going to fix that when the car is going backwards/sideways.

MojoMotors.com > mcseanerson
09/15/2014 at 11:35

I know that the FIA is plugging Formula E as "environmentally friendly" but do you really think the tree huggers are the ones watching these races?

GhostZ > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:36

I don't look at it as a problem. I mean, I'm also not driving, so as a spectator it makes it a sure of a lot more fun to watch.

TurnDownForWatt > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:36

Notice how in a 25 lap race with 22 cars, there was a total of one highlight?

Race was boooooooring. The cars suck, the racing was non-existant, and the track was heniously bad. Cars making ~200 hp, tiptoeing around, maxing out at 120mph and not being able to pass doesn't make for much of a show.

mcseanerson > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:37

DiCaprio has a team and he's one of them.

MojoMotors.com > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
09/15/2014 at 11:37

In the US, Fox Sports 1 will show live coverage of all 10 races. Here's the full TV coverage list: http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/guide/telev…

TurnDownForWatt > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
09/15/2014 at 11:38

FS1 in the US.

TurnDownForWatt > For Sweden
09/15/2014 at 11:39

Makes as much sense as a championship and season ending race ending at 2 am EST.

GhostZ > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 11:39

Notice how much higher the front lifts than the rear when he goes over the bump. It was not the contact that launched him, it was the air that flooded underneath the car. A la a group C car, which had extremely flat bottoms (you can see that when it flips over) to create a ground effect. When the nose lifts, you get a buildup of air pressure that compounds the faster you go, which eventually lifts the car. This only happens on cars with extremely flat underbodies, like a Formula E car.

This approach to aerodynamics means that if air gets underneath the car, they EASILY flip, nose up first, just like that. An F1 car (or better yet, an LMP1 car, as they are designed to have aero that rights the car back forward when they start to spin) would have kept the nose down because air flying over the top of the car produces much more of its downforce than the vacuum underneath the car. They also have 4x the power, so they can sacrifice a bit of drag coefficient for safety and grip.

MojoMotors.com > GhostZ
09/15/2014 at 11:40

True, the good thing is that Heidfeld wasn't injured.

GhostZ > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 11:40

I think they can get away with it because they're only going 140mph, not 270 like in group C.

MojoMotors.com > mcseanerson
09/15/2014 at 11:42

Yep, Heidfeld races for DiCaprio's team, Venturi.

And Formula E is definitely good for tree huggers. Technological breakthroughs from these vehicles will certainly make their way into the Teslas of tomorrow.

TurnDownForWatt > GhostZ
09/15/2014 at 11:43

Uh dude, there's video right there. The car is flat planted until it hits the raised curbing.

And seriously, holding up LMP cars as bastions for safety from blowovers? The same cars that have had to have emergency fins, cutouts and other "workarounds" hastily added to them in the event massive blowover incidents?

GhostZ > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 11:50

Uh dude, there's video right there. The car is flat planted until it hits the raised curbing.

Then we're completely in agreement. It's not the contact (with the other car) that makes him fly up. It's the lifting of the nose on the bump.

Formula E car aerodynamics, because of the ground effect /low drag approach, shares more with Group C than it does with F1 or LMP1. As a result, we're going to see accidents like this and they will be dramatic. Being at a low speed however, means that people won't likely be easily injured. That's all I'm saying.

TurnDownForWatt > GhostZ
09/15/2014 at 11:52

So..what exactly do you tend to recommend to fix a car going *sideways* and hitting a beveled, raised edge acting as a ramp? This is a mechanical issue, not an aero one.

GhostZ > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 11:58

I don't think it needs to be fixed, because "fixing" it ruins the cars competitively.

Remember, I'm not talking about the crash , I'm taling about the nose lift that made him unable to avoid the crash.

The nose lift issue is solved by adding significantly deeper wings with harsher angles of attack, as well as multiple stage wings along the sides of the body, plus air intakes. All of these are on F1 cars, but not Formula E cars. Why not? Because all of them would dramatically increase drag to the piont that the Formula E car wouldn't be competitive. F1 cars draw in air from near the bottom of the car, as well as use diffusers around the heated exhaust area to prevent lift. Formula E cars do not have these diffusers either.

The spinning issue is solved the exact same way Audi solved it, by using a large lateral spoiler. It would increase drag notably, but not by as much as it improves stability. Normally, Formula E cars would not be going so fast that this would be necessary. However, combine it with a sudden lift of the nose that fills the underbody with high pressure air, with minimal downforce to counteract the lift, and you get the crash above.

Audi's laterial fin:

Kinja'd!!!

MojoMotors.com > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 12:02

Formula E cars are going to get faster as the technology improves.

MojoMotors.com > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 12:03

Yes, if only the whole world revolved around EST. Mojo Motors is based in NYC, so that would be just fine with us.

ncasolowork2 > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 12:09

You might want to learn to spell the winner's name if you're going to try your hand at writing.

ceanderson920 > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 12:10

That crash looks pretty exciting, how was the racing itself?

ncasolowork2 > TurnDownForWatt
09/15/2014 at 12:11

You watched the same race I did? There was a lot of overtaking and passing on quite possibly the most poorly designed race circuit I've ever seen. It was entertaining.

MojoMotors.com > ncasolowork2
09/15/2014 at 12:16

Yeah... Thanks for pointing that out. I must have been daydreaming about Drake's Teen Nick TV show from '00

Kinja'd!!!

MojoMotors.com > ceanderson920
09/15/2014 at 13:56

Well, some race fans seem to feel that nothing exciting can happen under 200mph, so if you're a speed freak you might want to wait a few years until the technology progresses.

Scott Meyer > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 17:35

At the halfway point they don't pit to change tires. they pit to change cars. And dude hit Heidfeld on purpose, shitbag.

Scott Meyer > MojoMotors.com
09/15/2014 at 17:35

At the halfway point they don't pit to change tires. they pit to change cars. And dude hit Heidfeld on purpose, shitbag.

ddavidn > MojoMotors.com
09/17/2014 at 01:15

I watched it and loved it. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I think everyone around me thinks I'm insane, but I really did enjoy the race.

MojoMotors.com > ddavidn
09/17/2014 at 17:14

Glad you enjoyed it, ddavidn. Traditionalists are always going to make a stink, but the fact is that these are great racers careening around in technological masterpieces. We're looking forward to the next installation in November!

sadfasdf > MojoMotors.com
09/22/2014 at 10:54

I presume Prost would have heard the other car if they were conventional ICE cars. Maybe they're gonna have to do something about that.

obamasfollowersrstupid > MojoMotors.com
10/02/2014 at 11:25

I'll NEVER watch it...and will go so far as to write sponsors telling them how much I absolutely HATE Formula Effing E.......crappiest racing ever!

Anchal Jain > MojoMotors.com
10/02/2014 at 12:55

The cars are slow in every metric (a stock 2014 Corvette has a better power/weight ratio)
Pit stops are lame
The cars are ugly
Races sound identical to electric rc car races

The only thing Formula E has going for it is the stacked grid. There's a lot of talent out there. I'll stick to F1 and WRC.