Page 30 - Bloomberg Businessweek - November 19, 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek The Year Ahead 2019 Luxury

Formula E

▷ A new car will tear up the streets in the 2019 electric racing series

In December, Formula E is set to kick off BMW is scheduled to enter the year as
its fifth racing season in Ad Diriyah, Saudi a manufacturer, teaming up with Andretti
Arabia. Whereas Formula One has a history Autosport, and Mercedes affiliate HWA will join
of charismatic drivers and long-standing team as a precursor to Mercedes’s official entry next
rivalries, the all-electric series centers much of season. Renault is out; Nissan is in.
its hype on the unique design and engineering But the biggest change this season is the car.
of the cars themselves. They are whippet-thin, Unlike Formula One, E-version supercars are all
1,700-pound machines capable of roughly pretty much the same—allowing for minor tweaks
335 horsepower, with front ends shaped like to brakes, gears, and wheels. All those refine-
blades. The collective racing note sounds like a ments hint at the systems coming for consumer
horde of hornets whizzing by the grandstands. vehicles in the years ahead. <BW> �Hannah Elliott

▷ Tomorrow’s race car, today

74 ● BATTERY ● BRAKES ● MOTOR ● WHEELS ● RIDE ● SPEED
Hard to believe, but Each team uses the The motor can spin Wheel design has also A team may tailor Formula E cars can
before this year, driv- same hydraulically at 20,000 rpm, which been deregulated in the suspension to its sprint to 62 mph in
ers had to change to a operated braking produces 250kW (about Formula E, meaning liking. Most feature a 2.8 seconds—about
new car halfway through system made by 335 hp). An F1 car is each team can fine-tune double-steel wishbone the same as their
each 45-minute race. the Italian manufac- limited to 18,000 rpm. the performance of their suspension with twin gasoline-powered
This year each team turer Brembo SpA. spoked 18-inch rims. dampers, plus adjust- brethren. But F1 cars
will use a standardized Formula E cars typically ● GEARS able anti-roll bars. can reach top speeds of
385-kilogram lithium-ion have carbon brake Unlike the battery and ● SOUND Formula E cars generally 230 mph; in Formula E
battery developed by discs, which can reach power apparatus, the At a Formula E race, ride higher than F1 cars the maximum speed is
Williams Advanced temperatures as high as motors and transmis- the noise is a mixture of and come with multi- 174 mph.
Engineering Ltd. With 1,000C. Heat manage- sions aren’t standard- tires, the whish of the ple suspension settings,
twice the energy ment is crucial: Running ized across the race cars moving through since most Formula E
storage, it offers twice brakes too hot means field—each team can the air, and the whir races are on city streets
the range—enough to they oxidize and wear make them to its own of their drivetrains. At instead of racetracks.
cover the full distance of out quickly; running specifications. Some top speeds, an elec- Each team uses the
each course. them cold reduces how teams use a one-gear tric race car reaches same carbon- fiber-and-
well they stop. solution, but others still roughly 80 decibels—a aluminum “survival cell”
● AERODYNAMICS use two or three. little more than what a (the protective frame-
The car’s shape, includ- normal car produces at work around a driver),
ing the needlelike nose 70 mph. An F1 car can manufactured by Italian
and the huge wing in the reach 130 db or more. chassis designer Dallara PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FIA
back, efficiently directs Automobili SpA.
and controls airflow.