Formula E

[autogyro]

I for myself would love to see free battery development.
I don't think it would lead to much better performance but to much more drama.
Imagine a few hundred kilograms of burning Lithium

I'm pretty sure it won't happen because the Series was in part created to improve the recognition of e-tech to the mass market. Burning batteries that can't really be extinguished properly would not help.

cheers Stefan

Yes I suppose that compares very closely with allowing open development of 19th century IC technology where the result is often engine explosions and the air full of flying metal.
Been there done that.

[aleks_ader]

So no CVT for Virgin racing?

[RicME85]

Isnt battery development coming at some point, like year 5?

Think it makes great sense the way they have approached the series with unlocking areas for development at intervals, makes it more accessible

[autogyro]

So no CVT for Virgin racing?

CVT transmissions are only of real use in instrumentation and low power applications.
In high energy applications the control systems used to control cones, discs or other variable energy delivery components require too much energy to operate and the trade off is a reduction in efficiency.

[Tommy Cookers]

CVT transmissions are only of real use in instrumentation and low power applications.
In high energy applications the control systems used to control cones, discs or other variable energy delivery components require too much energy to operate and the trade off is a reduction in efficiency.

haven't they made about 50000000 of the modern (steel 'belt') car CVTs ?
don't CVT-equipped cars give better economy than any equivalents with other types of transmission ?

unfortunately the modern car CVT generally has to fit in a space designed for other transmissions
so the belt is externally loaded (compressed), transmitting power by pushing on the 'slack' side (plus the usual pulling action)
this friction between the compressing band and the drive belt is extra friction, compared with a free design

the USP of the CVT is enabling the engine to work at higher ratios than any transmission that has non-continuous ratio variability
this is most useful eg with a gasoline ICE eg Japanese manufacturers

the earlier elastomer belt CVTs needed no mechanical differential and had none
as each wheel had its own CVT drive, this gave an inherent (non-friction) LSD characteristic
(wheel slip causes the slipping wheel's drive ratio to increase and its torque to decrease)

but yes, it's hard to see why a CVT would be much benefit in EV racing
racing flatters the efficiency of gear-type transmissions (gears designed around and run at one torque level can be 99.5% efficient)

I'd like to see EV/CVT fans in discussion with the 'EVs don't need gearboxes' people

[autogyro]

I'd like to see EV/CVT fans in discussion with the 'EVs don't need gearboxes' people

Yes Tommy it would bring out the 'sweet spot' in people.

My ESERU is a transmission device that uses a CVT electro magnetic shift method on an epicyclic stepped ratio gear train.
It needs no mechanical clutch and it also doubles as an energy harvesting and apply system.
In an EV application the ratios would be chosen to match the sweet spot of the built in motor combinations.

[f1316]

The idea, as I understood it, was to eventually get to the stage where one battery can last the full race, so surely that means dev on that aspect?

Excuse the ignorant question but: are teams currently allowed to charge the battery via, for example, kers? I imagine there not much heat from the power unit but you'd think the brakes would heat up same as any other race car (little city tracks permitting).

Seems like an obvious way to make the batteries last longer but I know precious little about the formula, so apologies if it's a stupid question.

[RicME85]

The cars have regen braking but there is a limit to how much energy they can use, last season there were a few drivers who lost positions post race for going over their allowance.

FE has a roadmap for the future which sees certain aspects opening up for development, kinda like a reverse version of F1's engine dev rules, eventually batteries will be one area, the reason they aren't yet was to keep costs down, they wanted the Formula to be accessible without the F1 style spending war.

[01j]

The Society of Automotive Engineers is hosting a Formula E competition for universities. I recently listened in on a Webcast in which they were seeking volunteers to review technical docs and help at the race event in June 2016.

[Andres125sx]

OMG, second season started more than one month ago and I missed it!

Two Eprix yet, and I can´t find a link in FE site to watch them as there is for first season Eprix´s

http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/calendar.aspx

[RicME85]

They have been good, the second race was just mental.
Renault eDams are the team to beat...if their drivetrains can hold up.
Shame the Trulli team is falling apart and NextEV have a right dog on their hands

[RicME85]

Mexico City track looks like it could be fun.
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... confirmed/

[mikeerfol]

OMG, second season started more than one month ago and I missed it!

Two Eprix yet, and I can´t find a link in FE site to watch them as there is for first season Eprix´s

http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/calendar.aspx

http://burningwhee1s.blogspot.ae/search ... 02015-2016

Here here

[RicME85]

Formula E has revealed plans to begin a new support category for the series starting from season three that will feature driverless car technology.

The championship, dubbed ROBORACE, is set to make its debut during the first ePrix of the 2016/17 season using identical all-electric, autonomous cars.

Races will be one hour long, to be held two hours before each ePrix – with teams able only to modify the car's software and not any physical aspects of the car.

Each of the 10 teams will be required to run two cars, while one of the teams will be crowdsourced.

It will also be open to – but not compulsory for – Formula E's existing teams, and is aimed primarily at those outfits with manufacturer links or a specific interest in the development of driverless technology.

“We passionately believe that, in the future, all of the world’s vehicles will be assisted by AI and powered by electricity, thus improving the environment and road safety," said founder of investment company Kinetik Denis Sverdlov.

"ROBORACE is a celebration of revolutionary technology and innovation that humanity has achieved in that area so far. It’s a global platform to show that robotic technologies and AI can co-exist with us in real life.

"Thus, anyone who is at the edge of this transformation now has a platform to show the advantages of their driverless solutions and this shall push the development of the technology."

An "open challenge"

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag added that the ethos of the series fits in with a future vision of the car that he described as "electric, connected and driverless."

“We are very excited to be partnering with Kinetik on what is surely one of the most cutting-edge sporting events in history," he added.

"ROBORACE is an open challenge to the most innovative scientific and technology-focused companies in the world.

"It is very exciting to create a platform for them to showcase what they are capable of and I believe there is great potential for us to unearth the next big idea through the unique crowd-sourced contest.”

Queried about the lack of characters in a series for autonomous cars, Sverdlov was adamant that personality could be expressed in other ways.

"We want the engineers to be public people, so that the personality comes from the teams, and we will make it mandatory that every car has a name," he said.

[ChrisF1]

So, identical cars but different software. No problem, spec is the same but the difference comes from how good the software (driver) is.

So therefore, if you have Software 1 at pole, and each other car is +0.1 seconds, surely you're just going to get a procession as each car loses +0.1 every lap unless they have some type of DRS (I assume these cars won't be fast enough to develop enough for proper slipstreaming)

I absolutely love this idea, really love it, but I am not sure how well this will work right now.