- For auto manufacturers, it's also a test bed for innovation in sustainable mobility.
- "If we win and we are successful, we can show the world we are a step ahead on technology," Pascal Zurlinden, director of factory racing for Porsche AG, tells Axios.
Driving the news: New York is the only U.S. stop on this year's Formula E tour, now in its seventh season. As EV technology has advanced, the racing series has evolved too.
- Batteries in the first generation of race cars lasted only 25 minutes, so teams had to swap cars midway through the race.
- The current generation of cars has a lightweight 250-kilowatt battery and a top speed of 174 mph, eliminating the need for pit stops during the 45-minute race.
- The entire 24-car field uses the same battery pack, which was designed and manufactured by Lucid Motors through its Atieva technology division.
Details: Each team designs the rest of the car's powertrain — things like the electric motor, inverter and gearbox — but the design can't change after the season begins.
- The only permitted changes are software updates to optimize thermal management.
- To win, racers need to strike the right balance between power and efficiency — the same riddle that engineers designing standard EVs are trying to solve.
- Like race car drivers, EV owners can continually improve their vehicles through software updates too.
Context: Motorsports has long been a laboratory for future automotive technology.
- Jaguar, for example, pioneered disc brakes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1953. Today, they are widely available on all vehicles.
- The British carmaker is already implementing lessons learned from Formula E racing, says James Barclay, team director of Jaguar Racing. A software update added 12 miles of extra range to the 2021 Jaguar iPace electric SUV, for instance.
The big picture: Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and a massive source worldwide.
- Automakers are rushing to replace their gasoline-powered vehicles with electric models as governments tighten tailpipe emissions rules and companies face pressure to act on climate.
What's next: Formula E is growing, adding three new cities next year — Vancouver, Canada, Cape Town, South Africa, and Seoul, South Korea — as it expands to a record 16 races across four continents.
- The technology continues to evolve, too. Batteries in the next generation of race cars, coming in about 18 months for Season 9, will pack 350 kW of energy into a smaller, lighter package, meaning even better performance.
The bottom line: Formula E is an exciting sport with sustainability built into its mission.
