BMW granted Formula E powertrain manufacturer

You must have noticed that more manufacturers are interested in entering Formula E than F 1.

Now, don't you wonder why?

Also, how many manufacturers have stated they would stay in F1 or join it tomorrow if it was to go back to non-hybrid atmospheric formula?

I rest my case.

 

What I was trying to say is that some manufacturers are interested in motor racing, but do not want to participate in F1 right now, for various reasons.

First, this hybrid formula is very difficult to join half way, when the main protagonists (Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault) are already years ahead in terms of R&D and experience on the track. Honda came one year late, and suffers badly for it. So, I suppose no other manufacturer want to touch THIS formula with a barge pole.

Also, most constructors see hybrid technology as a step up towards the INEVITABLE electric power that will propel most vehicles in future. For their road cars, the hybrid technology they already have or can purchase is sufficient enough, so they will not invest in racing with it.

But most manufacturers are interested in electric power, which is still in its infancy regarding mass application on the whole vehicle market. This is why not only established car makers back Formula E, but even new comers on the world market like Mahindra (India) and Chinese manufacturers.

Even Ross Brawn let it slip that F1 will have to chose between being relevant to the contemporary world of tomorrow (fully electric), or stick with the past and even go back to "primitive motorisation". If it sticks to obsolete technology, F1 will stop to be interesting to constructors, and they will stop investing in it, IMO. F1 could even drift towards a specs series, where a 30 years old V12 design powers 90% of the field. But that would be going backwards.

It's a debate between those who are stuck in the past, and those who look ahead, and it's the same everywhere in society, in politics, etc...

Personally, I have spent my like adapting to change, and not swimming against the tide.
I also liked noisy V12 engines at the time, but I think they will be relegated to museums and historical racing, and not be seen the "pinnacle of motorsport" tomorrow.

There are people who like to slag off this hybrid formula, but I particularly find it interesting that F1 cars today can go faster over the same GP distance, with less than 1/2 the fuel they used to burn only a few years back.
Now, for me, that's very positive !

 

It will be interesting to see how Formula 1 changes in the future. At this point its split in half. One leg mechanical and the other one electric. If it goes full electric than we are talking about Formula E which already exists. If it goes back to 100% mechanical than we are moving backwards which btw there will be nothing wrong with that in that case IMHO.

 

They should make the Formula E cars play the national anthem of the manufacturer full blast as they lap the circuit.

I still wouldn't watch but it would be hilarious.

As usual, agree with you.

 

Yup...Formula 1 is at a cliff right now and going forward. The automobile is rapidly changing given these last 5 years and going forward. Its completely different now when compared to the introduction of the car....this time or this era we are living in.....its exponential. The old cliche of F1 is the epitome/pinnacle of automotive technology I fear will change come 2020.

 

Who cares?

You don't need manufacturer run teams for racing to be exciting. You need manufacturers willing to sell the components needed to build an exciting race car.

 

I fear for the future.

 

I think throughout the years Formula1 will become less mechanical and more electric. The more electric, the more efficient and that's their ultimate goal. The whole thing is so hypocritical. Formula 1 is not meant to be a sport to save the planet. All the trailers, ground and air support that all teams use in order to transport the teams, cars and equipment pollute way much more the environment than the 20-22 cars going around for 50-70 laps. I think they should start doing something about that and leave the cars alone!.

 

You are grossly unfair here.

Formula E is making its first steps in motor racing, compared to the combustion engine formulae which have more than a century of development. Electric cars in general haven't benefited of the $billions of R&D spending lavished on their IC counterparst over generations.

The present rules in Formula E are very tentative in that they prevent too much energy storage (limit on battery size), limit the output, etc... OK, they had to adopt that to start with, but the rules will change in future.

The car swap in Formula E has also be treated with derision, but soon (in 2018 perhaps), the races will not have car change will be something of the past. Power will go up, range will go up, etc ... Already reliability isn't a problem, and this less than 4 or 5 years after the series was started.

Also, Formula E will leave the circuit centres before long, and race on ordinary circuits where the progress of the cars will be assessed more accurately. At the moment, Formula E is run on Mickey Mouse circuits because of the organisers want to reach a different public.

The electric motors will be more powerful one day, the battery technology will bring quicker recharge and provide more storage of energy, and the performance will one day match those of present race cars. People then will look at the combustion engine just like we look at the propeller aircraft or the steam engine now.

 

All I can say here stateside, is that we have motorsports that don't even come close to saving the planet and they all have one thing in common.....noise and alot of it. i.e. Indycar, dragsters (pro-stock, funny car, jet turbines etc.), dragster boats, motocross, monster trucks, tractor pulls, Petite LeMans, IMSA....all are useless from a "earth friendly perspective"......so I'm all for the "dinosaur" F1 even if it means sticking to the dinosaur mentality cuz all of the above ENTERTAINS us.

 

Hello William, hope you're correct. But electric car proponents have been saying the exact same thing for over 100 yrs. Electric cars have never been more comfortable and fast as today, yet they still suffer from the same old problem Battery storage and range.

History of Electric Cars
How do electric cars and hybrids work? - Explain that Stuff

 

You still have to admit that motor racing in general, Grand Prix and later F1 came from the motor industry in general, and didn't sprout out of nowhere.

As for the technical innovations made in F1, they obviously greatly benefited the road cars and still do increasingly.

A cynic said that wars are good because they accelerate technical progress; I would say that motor racing is good because it accelerates research and development in the motor industry.

Formula 1 doesn't exists in a vacuum, it's relevant to the motor industry.

 

Mentality change too.

What people liked many years ago is different from what we like now, and future generations will probably like something else. Time doesn't stand still.

If noise is apparently an essential ingredient to entertainment for some now, it may not be so in future ...

 

I agree with you. However, that's not what Formula1 was intended to be and the fact there is a Formula E in existence justifies my point. At least leave the F1 they way it should be.

 

Agree.

The electric solution has so far received far less research and development funding that the internal combustion engine; this is changing because of the realisation that pollution is slowly killing us.

Early in the motor car infancy, electricity, steam and petrol were competing. The petrol engine won the contest, and all investment on the steam and electric proposition stopped.

Now, because of environmental issues, legislation will revert that. So, I expect electric power to take the lead in future, and become the sole IMPOSED mean of transport.

It may escape people in the US where environmental considerations are not a priority, but in Europe, governments are taking steps to eliminate the combustion engine altogether. Norway will ban the sale of IC engine by 2025 (or is it 2030), Germany said if would follow suit, and I have no doubt that the rest of Europe will follow.

So, with government pressure, I think our manufacturers will soon find solutions to range concerns, charging speed, etc... within a couple of decades if they don't want to go bust!!

 

I wonder if that will drive up the prices of the non electric exotic cars...

 

Non-electric cars will be banned from sale. That's the plan.

I suspect European countries will for a while tolerate older IC cars on the road in certain situations (out of town), and with yearly limited mileage.

But they will in fact relegate them to museums by forcing their owners to take them off the road through heavy taxation (Road tax, Insurance cost and fuel price) .

Most exotic car makers will hopefully have switched to electric by then.

 

In other words.... we are screwed!

 

Maybe, but the application for cars is relatively new.

Formula E will accelerate the development, from which the road cars will also benefit.

Already some electric cars have a relatively good range, and most of the expected progress, I read, will be achieved with quick chargers. The infrastructure will also have to provide more charging points.