Formula E

Please discuss here all your remarks and pose your questions about all racing series, except Formula One. Both technical and other questions about GP2, Touring cars, IRL, LMS, ...
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Andres125sx
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Trocola wrote: I think it's the best, because I do not like Gonzalo Serrano (aka "Sanganchao")
Have to agree with this, Serrarno is more of a fanboy than a journalist, even more than Lobato wich should be embarrasing for him :mrgreen: but at least we could watch the races live on tv

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RicME85
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Andres125sx wrote:Thanks, I watched it yesterday after F1 race

And seriously, considering tracks differences (Albert Park is a really nice track while Miami is a PITA) I found FE more entertaining than F1

IMO the worst part of FE currently is the car switch. Most drivers need to practice this maneouver a lot more, there´re too many position changes between first and second race halves, so much that first part is almost useless, you need to see how car switch goes to know who will be on podium. This time Vergne and Bird where fighting for victory at first half but out of the podium at second. Well, to be fair Bird ruined his race because of entering one lap too late and running out of battery, but you get the idea, there are too many differences. Some drivers loose 6 seconds more than the mandatory time, so there are huge position changes
Agree, I found it crazy how many places drivers lost in the change.
With a bit of luck in a year or two car changes will be a thing of the past.

For all the mickey taking about the Miami track design, it produce a very good race, much better than the F1 race at Melbourne.

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hollus
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I heard an interview with Agag where he said that car changes will be gone in year 5 when they expect the batteries to be up for full races. Of course that could change...
Rivals, not enemies.

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RicME85
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Yeah, wouldn't be surprised if it was sooner. Perfect stage for an OEM to step in and show off their tech

mzso
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RicME85 wrote:Yeah, wouldn't be surprised if it was sooner. Perfect stage for an OEM to step in and show off their tech
I'd be. Battery improvements don't happen on a snap of a finger. Much of the physics behind batteries and materials is not well understood. And they constantly run into problems.

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lizardfolk
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It's unfortunate that we'll be seeing the same chassis for the next 5+ years...

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Andres125sx
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mzso wrote:
RicME85 wrote:Yeah, wouldn't be surprised if it was sooner. Perfect stage for an OEM to step in and show off their tech
I'd be. Battery improvements don't happen on a snap of a finger.
True, but they´re testing new technologies like LiS for some years now, it´s not that they´ll improve battery technology on a snap of a finger, but they´ll finish current development wich is different

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?secti ... id=1324114
http://www.nature.com/news/the-recharge ... ry-1.14815
http://www.oxisenergy.com/
http://www.polyplus.com/liair.html
http://www.gizmag.com/lithium-sulfur-ba ... ity/29907/

From first link:
The LiS battery
This technology is known for its potentially very high mechanical robustness and safety (shock, crush, puncture, and thermal stability), very high energy density and specific energy, and very high depth of discharge. It's also known for being maintenance free, lightweight, and eco-friendly. This technology helped the Zephyr set the record for the highest-altitude and longest solar/battery-powered flight in 2008.
They were testing Li-S batteries in real applications in 2008, not a snap of a finger that´s true, but a long development process wich is in its final stage

Image

From second link:
In 2012, the JCESR hub won US$120 million from the US Department of Energy to take a leap beyond Li-ion technology. Its stated goal was to make cells that, when scaled up to the sort of commercial battery packs used in electric cars, would be five times more energy dense than the standard of the day, and five times cheaper, in just five years. That means hitting a target of 400 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh kg−1) by 2017.
As you see, battery development is running for many years. Take into account everybody knows EV are the future and only better batteries are a problem right now, so companies are investing huge amounts of money there because first coming out with a battery with double energy density than current Li-Ion batteries will earn some billions providing batteries to every car manufacturer in the world

Actually, I can´t think about another market where investing may be as profitable as batteries, the entire world is waiting for that

mzso
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Andres125sx wrote:
mzso wrote:
RicME85 wrote:Yeah, wouldn't be surprised if it was sooner. Perfect stage for an OEM to step in and show off their tech
I'd be. Battery improvements don't happen on a snap of a finger.
True, but they´re testing new technologies like LiS for some years now, it´s not that they´ll improve battery technology on a snap of a finger, but they´ll finish current development wich is different

They were testing Li-S batteries in real applications in 2008, not a snap of a finger that´s true, but a long development process wich is in its final stage
Precisely. Five years go by quickly when it comes to batteries. Even the huge Tesla factory is only planned to produce currently available tech and they haven't even started building it.
I've been following battery developments a few years now. There's a lot if interesting tech in the works, but most of them isn't near to getting marketed.
Andres125sx wrote:
From second link:
In 2012, the JCESR hub won US$120 million from the US Department of Energy to take a leap beyond Li-ion technology. Its stated goal was to make cells that, when scaled up to the sort of commercial battery packs used in electric cars, would be five times more energy dense than the standard of the day, and five times cheaper, in just five years. That means hitting a target of 400 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh kg−1) by 2017.
As you see, battery development is running for many years. Take into account everybody knows EV are the future and only better batteries are a problem right now, so companies are investing huge amounts of money there because first coming out with a battery with double energy density than current Li-Ion batteries will earn some billions providing batteries to every car manufacturer in the world

Actually, I can´t think about another market where investing may be as profitable as batteries, the entire world is waiting for that
400 Wh/kg is only double of the best ones on the market.

"Take into account everybody knows EV are the future"
This is just not true. Lots of people are against batteries or EV-s in general.

"Li-Ion batteries will earn some billions providing batteries to every car manufacturer in the world"
It's in the distant future where every manufacturer will be building EV-s only. Like 15-30 years.
Currently you have like three serious EV modells. (LEAF, i3, Model S)

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Andres125sx
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mzso wrote:
Andres125sx wrote:
mzso wrote: I'd be. Battery improvements don't happen on a snap of a finger.
True, but they´re testing new technologies like LiS for some years now, it´s not that they´ll improve battery technology on a snap of a finger, but they´ll finish current development wich is different

They were testing Li-S batteries in real applications in 2008, not a snap of a finger that´s true, but a long development process wich is in its final stage
Precisely. Five years go by quickly when it comes to batteries. Even the huge Tesla factory is only planned to produce currently available tech and they haven't even started building it.
I've been following battery developments a few years now. There's a lot if interesting tech in the works, but most of them isn't near to getting marketed.
Most of them, but we´re not talking about a car manufacturer, but FE. They don´t need to comply with same standards, no need for thousands cycles wich is the weak point of LiS batteries right now so they will start using LiS batteries years before they can be used for production cars, so five years is not that crazy, not at all
mzso wrote:400 Wh/kg is only double of the best ones on the market.

"Take into account everybody knows EV are the future"
This is just not true. Lots of people are against batteries or EV-s in general.
And lots of people have always been against petrol cars and petrol companies, but that didn´t stop them from being standard

The only doubt is where to store the electricity, batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, hydrogen tanks, cold fusion..... but no matter what of them suceed, it will feed EVs, period

Companies do know this, so they´re investing to become those who will supply most car manufacturers, mobile phone´s, laptops.... We´re talking about a huge market. Maybe someone will succed with anything different from a battery, for example E-cat proyect, but does that really matter? The goal is finding a way to store or generate electricity wich makes EV really competitive
mzso wrote:It's in the distant future where every manufacturer will be building EV-s only. Like 15-30 years.
Nobody said the contrary
mzso wrote:Currently you have like three serious EV modells. (LEAF, i3, Model S)
Three???

Renault Zoe
Renault Twizy
Renault Kangoo ZE
Reanault Fluence ZE
Citroen C-Zero
Peugeot I-On
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive
Mitshubishi IMiEV

And this is not the full list, just those I found on a quick search. Considering current batteries can´t match petrol range, IMO the list is quite long. Once there´s available batteries matching petrol range few manufacturers will keep building petrol engines, only those who offer something more than economy or practicity, Ferrari, lambo, Aston Martin.... all the rest will simply stop selling petrol cars

Future is electric, period

mzso
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Andres125sx wrote: "Take into account everybody knows EV are the future"
This is just not true. Lots of people are against batteries or EV-s in general.
And lots of people have always been against petrol cars and petrol companies, but that didn´t stop them from being standard

The only doubt is where to store the electricity, batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, hydrogen tanks, cold fusion..... but no matter what of them suceed, it will feed EVs, period

Companies do know this, so they´re investing to become those who will supply most car manufacturers, mobile phone´s, laptops.... We´re talking about a huge market. Maybe someone will succed with anything different from a battery, for example E-cat proyect, but does that really matter? The goal is finding a way to store or generate electricity wich makes EV really competitive

And this is not the full list, just those I found on a quick search. Considering current batteries can´t match petrol range, IMO the list is quite long. Once there´s available batteries matching petrol range few manufacturers will keep building petrol engines, only those who offer something more than economy or practicity, Ferrari, lambo, Aston Martin.... all the rest will simply stop selling petrol cars

Future is electric, period[/quote]
"Period" is not an argument, it's just jerkish. As such it just undermines your point.

And no, very few people were against IC cars, particularly because it lacked viable alternatives.
On the other hand EVs are a rather small nieche at this point.

Most EV modells are just compliance cars or experimental modells with very low production volumes and limited distribution.

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Andres125sx
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mzso wrote:"Period" is not an argument, it's just jerkish. As such it just undermines your point.
I can provide you a list of all the benefits of EV with probably 10 points or even more, but since this is FE thread I don´t want to derail it so much. There´re many threads talking about the subject and I posted on them too, you can do a search and find it for yourself
mzso wrote:On the other hand EVs are a rather small nieche at this point.

Most EV modells are just compliance cars or experimental modells with very low production volumes and limited distribution.
Obviously, we´re talking about future, not present

But the fact most manufacturers already have EV´s on their catalogs even when battery techonoly still need further development should mean something about what they (manufacturers) think future will be. They wouldn´t be investing on EV´s if they don´t think they´re the future

With current technology hybrids are the best you can get about EV´s today, cars like I8 with 360hp and only 2 litres/100km are pretty impresive, they provide the best of both worlds, you can move around the city at electric mode with no fuel consumption at all, but still be able to travel as far as you want. They´re the step in between before switching to full electrics and also allow manufacturers to develop electric technology

mzso
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Andres125sx wrote:
mzso wrote:"Period" is not an argument, it's just jerkish. As such it just undermines your point.
I can provide you a list of all the benefits of EV with probably 10 points or even more, but since this is FE thread I don´t want to derail it so much.
No need. I'm very familiar with EVs and their current state. Still you're overly optimistic/zealous about their adaptation.

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Andres125sx
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Guilty about that :mrgreen:

But I have many reasons to be so

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Andres125sx
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Monaco Eprix layout revealed (round 7), a half of traditional Monaco GP, St Devote becomes a tight turn and then a straight before rejoining traditional track after the tunnel, all the rest is the same

Image

http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015 ... eprix.aspx

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hollus
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Looking forward to onboard comparisons to F1.
Rivals, not enemies.

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