On Saturday, April 4, the Formula E Racing Championship makes its sixth tour stop in Long Beach,
Formula E is the first fully electric race car series and was launched earlier this year by Formula One (FIA) Racing and several automotive and racing companies. Although Americans have traditionally favored NASCAR over Formula One, this particular race has a chance to connect with a new set of American sports enthusiasts and become a symbol of an emissions-free world while being just as cool and glamorous as the Indy 500 is today.
Formula E is a consortium of global automotive companies and racing brands dedicated to recreating the Formula One racing experience with electric cars – on and off the track. It was specifically organized to grow the electric car industry by exciting more consumers and building the capabilities of automobile manufacturers to produce them. While electric cars and hybrids continue to grow in popularity, there is still a perception about the type of person who drives one. An electric race car attracts a broader, more skeptical segment of the population that is obsessed with speed, power and muscle in their cars. One day, if a Formula E car can go as fast as Formula One or NASCAR, there will be no need for a gasoline-powered car to race. Or so the organizers hope.
The consortium attracted many of the biggest names in the world - from industry stalwarts like
The Miami race attracted nearly 50,000 fans to downtown Miami to watch 18 cars race 40 laps each at speeds approaching 136 miles per hour. Formula E was smart enough to take advantage of that captive audience by creating a “village” where the public could learn about electric cars, see the race car prototypes and enjoy the race. They also held electric car races for children before the race – pitting local schools against each other in smaller, safer versions of the electric car. The educational experience is managed by local partners with curriculum provided by Formula E.
Fundamentally, this is an innovation challenge. In year one, the companies share a common technology platform. They use the same chassis and drivetrain, and a powerful lithium ion battery that is the equivalent of 10,000 AA batteries. Drivers still have to change cars mid-race because the battery is not strong enough. The cars were built by Spark Racing, with a process overseen by Renault and batteries by Williams Advanced Engineering.
As a result, this first year is mostly about developing experience driving electric cars in racing conditions and creating familiarity for the race teams and drivers. So it’s no surprise that the leaders are Renault, Andretti and Audi - race teams with the most experience winning based on traditional race conditions, tracks and strategy. Next year, however, it becomes an open competition whereby teams can design their own cars to perform. According to Formula E, innovation and design changes will be limited to the drivetrain, motor and a few other areas to prevent overly costly competition. More innovation will be allowed in years to come – around battery energy and even wireless charging systems.
Mahindra Racing exemplifies the global interest in this space. The Mahindra Group is one of India’s largest conglomerates, and probably innovates better than most. The company joined Formula E partly to push the organization to become more innovative in two ways. First, the company wanted to move beyond the type of innovation that Indian companies are known for, which is either frugal innovation, or complex innovation derived from having a large, educated workforce that is less expensive than that of the West. Instead, Mahindra wanted to build the capacity of the company and its various business units to innovate through research and development, prototype creation and experimentation. In the electric motor space, the company is applying its newfound expertise to race cars, the GenZE two-wheeler, and Moto 3, its motorcycle division. As one of the largest tractor producers in the world, it believes that innovation in electric motors, cars and batteries will eventually have huge impact on increasing the productivity of the world’s farmers in a more sustainable manner. To that end, Mahindra Group has established an annual innovation challenge across its various divisions. It is working on key challenges in the areas of Do-It-Yourself Solar Kits for residential homes and a driverless car. According to SP Shukla, a President of Mahindra Group, a driverless car on California’s highways is one thing, but true innovation is getting them to work on Mumbai’s crowded, chaotic streets.
Formula E is doing its part to improve the branding of electric cars. Having a Formula E race in Miami brought glamor to an industry that needs it. Formula E brings the F1 culture, the celebrities, models, parties and music that always accompany aspirational products and life styles. It is specifically important to Miami, which is one of the first global cities to see, firsthand, the effects of global warming in the form of rising sea levels and unusable sea shore.
As a nation, we need to see Formula E expand in the next few years across the United States. I’d like to see races run up and down Boston’s Storrow Drive or the East Side Highway in New York. It should be in New Orleans, another city at the mercy of climate change. Urban racing has its own appeal for a generation of sports fans that are not moving to the suburbs and are turned off by certain cultural aspects of NASCAR. The city of Miami was wise to partner with Formula E to host the race. Let’s hope to see it whizzing past you someday soon.
