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A20 SPORTS
Saturday 15 July 2017
Quiet zoom: Electric car race comes to Brooklyn waterfront

By MELISSA MURPHY at least zero-emission mo-
AP Sports Writer bility is a key point in keep-
NEW YORK (AP) — What ing our planet clean,”
race car barely makes Vergne said.
a sound while zipping Andretti Formula E and Far-
through the streets of aday Future Dragon Rac-
New York and major cities ing are the two American
around the world? teams in the series. Marco
It’s a Formula One car Andretti and Scott Speed
with an electric engine. previously raced for For-
This weekend, a Brooklyn mula E, but there are no
waterfront with a view of Americans among the 20
the Statue of Liberty will drivers this season.
host the Formula E Cham- The FE technology has im-
pionship series, where “E’’ proved, with electric en-
stands for electric. gines lasting 25 minutes
“We race in city centers while reaching speeds of
where F1 could never be 140 mph. During the event,
racing — central London, there’s a mid-race car
central Paris, central Brook- swap, where the drivers
lyn,” FE driver Jean-Eric switch to another charged
Vergne said. “Fans love it car.
because you don’t have Member of Team Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport push their car ahead of the Formula E auto race Friday, In the next two years,
to travel. Just take the July 14, 2017, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Vergne expects drivers
tube, taxi or bikes and ar- Associated Press will use one car because
rive at a temporary track in “batteries will be twice as
their hometown.” tice sessions in what’s billed ardo DiCaprio is an investor There are no carbon emis- efficient.” The batteries
The fully electric racing as the first motorsport race in FE and a member of its sions from an e-car. now need 60 minutes to re-
series is quieter and more in the five boroughs. sustainability committee. The FE series began its third charge.
climate friendly than the Jean Todt, the president The F1 series that’s been season in Hong Kong in In races Saturday and Sun-
roaring F1 engines that run of motor sports’ govern- around since 1950 isn’t October and raced in Mar- day at the Brooklyn Cruise
on gasoline. An FE car is ing body, and Formula E generally considered an rakesh, Morocco; Buenos Terminal in Red Hook, driv-
80 decibels compared to chief executive Alejandro environmentally friendly Aires, Argentina; Mexico ers will likely reach 125 mph
about 130 for an F1 car. Agag began the Formula sport, but it’s evolving with City; Monaco; Paris and on the straightaways of the
“Yes, people can sleep in E Championship in 2014, more fuel-efficient engines. Berlin before coming to 1.2-mile track with 10 turns.
the morning without being starting with a race around The 10 teams in Formula E New York. The series ends in The Qualcomm New York
awakened by the cars,” the grounds of Olympic are highlighting the clean Montreal on July 29-30. City ePrix includes practic-
he said of the early prac- Park in Beijing. Actor Leon- technology of electric cars. “I think electric mobility or es, qualifying and a village
where kids can race on
simulators and get auto-
graphs. The race each day
will cover about 45 laps in
40 minutes.
The city and FE signed a
one-year contract with op-
tions to renew every year
for up to 10 years, said An-
thony Hogrebe, a spokes-
man for the New York City
Economic Development
Corporation.
The office of Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced in April
that New York City is nearly
halfway toward its goal of
adding 2,000 municipal
electric vehicles by 2025
in an effort to lower green-
house gases.
So far, Vergne’s best finish
has been second during
three seasons of FE racing.
His car malfunctioned in
Paris last month, when he
was in second place.
“My steering rack broke
and I went straight into the
wall,” said Vergne, who
grew up on a go-kart track
his parents owned outside
Paris and competed in F1
for three years with Red
Bull. q