“Only change is constant” is an old but very popular quote. Almost every individual consistently seeks ‘change’ which is the biggest reason behind rapidly changing trends in various domains, especially in technology as people get bored of the old and constantly seeking what’s new.
New trends grasp our attention by becoming a hot topic through various news and marketing mediums and then quickly fade away. One topic that is consistently hot and never seizes to gain attention are Electric cars.
Electric cars are not new and the very first was launched in 1880s and kept hold of the market in the late 19th till early 20th century. These cars lost some interest when mass production of gasoline vehicles was started as these new vehicles were much cheaper to buy and maintain. The energy crises of the 1970s and 1980s brought electric cars back to the spot light but still these cars didn’t succeed in getting hold of the market until the 21st century when various technological advents made these cars more cost effective and easier to maintain. As its name implies, these electric cars are powered by electricity, though many of them are hybrid cars so there is more than one power source available. There are different methods to power electric cars such as large batteries, fuel cells and other energy storage devices.
The launch of a new model or debate about its benefits and limitations have gathered much attention in one way or another especially from the beginning of the 21st century. Recently, FIA single-seater championship also known as Formula E are all of the buzz. Formula E is the very first fully-electric racing series. The inaugural season of Formula E started in September 2014 and it will continue till June 2015. The main idea behind this race is Energy, Environment and Entertainment. Such championships are a great means to enlighten the future of motor industry; highlighting its benefits such as clean energy and sustainability while promoting the R&D that is being done in this area. From season 2, this championship will allow automobile manufacturers to present the electrical energy innovation they are working on, such as new battery technology, powertrains and other vehicles.
Such events are a great means of promotion and awareness about new technology. The efforts researchers are putting into such areas offer some amazing benefits in the disguise of entertainment.
I wonder what speed these new e-racers can go up to, and whether they can match the conventional racers in this respect. For that matter, I also want to know if e-racers are lighter or heavier than their counterparts, safer, and overall better in performance.
This is interesting and also good news for the environment, however, are these vehicles as fast as normal racing cars? The whole aim of a racing car is the speed it is able to achieve. If these vehicles are able to keep up or even improve on the traditional form of racing cars, it would be a fantastic breakthrough.
I suppose they won’t be as fast, but they will be fast. The Tesla Model S goes pretty fast and accelerates really quickly and it’s an electric car. The bad part about electric formulas is that a big part of the charm of F1 is the sounds the engines make. Electric formulas would be a lot more silent.
Yeah exactly, this is what I’ve been thinking. I’ve barely seen e-cars go above 90km/h, can e-racing cars pull this off? This is about speed we’re talking about, not protecting the environment, which does matter, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re participating in a race, I don’t think the point here is to protect the environment while you race your heart out!