IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - 43

top 10 tech

G e n t l e m e n , s ta r t yo u r , u h , m o t o r s

The FasT and
The Formula e
high-wattage eV cars will race
in cities around the world

ImagIne 20 state-of-theart single-seat racing cars,
lined up in front of grandstands and TV cameras.
Envision them streaming
past some of the world's bestknown urban landmarks:
the Brandenburg Gate, Big
Ben, Miami's South Beach.
Consider the breathtaking
acceleration, the heartstopping braking, the
illustration by

Brian Stauffer

daredevil overtaking
maneuvers. Think of the
scream of engines and the
tang of fuel at the back of
your nose.
Now lose the scream and
the tang. This is Formula E,
the first automobile racing
series based completely on
electric cars.
Starting in September,
Formula E will run on street

circuits in 10 cities around
the world, showcasing the
capabilities of electric cars
and helping to burnish
their "worthy, but rather
dull" image, as Paul
Drayson puts it. He's the
scientific consultant to
series promoter Formula E
Holdings (FEH) and the
team principal of Drayson
Racing, the British team that
SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG

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2014

was the first to sign up for
the series. "For me, the most
important thing is that it can
make technology really cool
and exciting," he says.
And that is why the
races will be held on city
street circuits, rather than
at dedicated racetracks,
adds FEH chief executive
Alejandro Agag. "Electric
cars are for cities; that's
their natural habitat, if you
like," he says. "It's where the
technology makes the most
sense, and that's where we
need to show them off."
Half the point of
Formula E is to accelerate
the development of electric
drivetrains so that teams
will eventually be free to
choose any configuration
and design of electric
motors, batteries, and
charging systems. But to get
the series moving, this year
all teams must use the same
car, developed by Spark
Racing Technologies, in
Burgundy, France.
The car has a monocoque
chassis and bodywork from
Dallara Automobili, in
Parma, Italy; lithium-ion
batteries from Williams
Advanced Engineering,
near London; and a fourspeed sequential gearbox
(common in race cars,
it lets you shift gears
without a clutch) from
Hewland Engineering,
near Oxford, England.
That gearbox will relay
power to the wheels via an
electronic control unit from
McLaren Automotive, the
British supercar specialist.
nORTh aMERICan

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jan 2014

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43



http://SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum January, 2014

IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - 1
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IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum January, 2014 - Cover4
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