FIA Chief Jean Todt is charged up about racing electric cars, and may launch the first series by 2013.
Hitting 200-plus miles an hour down the straight you’re likely not thinking much about matters like mileage or CO2 emissions. But up in the Formula One suites, well, that’s another matter entirely. And after encouraging teams to develop hybrid systems for their F1 racers, the sport’s top brass may be ready to take things to the next level.
The Formula One governing body is planning to launch a series of electric car race series that could eventually generate a battery-powered rival to F1 itself.
“We want, as soon as possible, to have new categories with new energy,” Jean Todt, president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA, told the British newspaper, the Telegraph.
Don’t look to find Michael Schumacher behind the wheel, at least not initially, nor is it clear whether major players like Ferrari or Team Red Bull will be signing on up front.
FIA organizers are looking at a stairstep approach with a variety of smaller programs, including electric go-karts, to start with, and potentially leading up to an eventual battery-powered F1 series.
The goal is to stage races worldwide, much like F1 is today, Todt stressed, indicating that the first race series might hit the track as early as 2013.
Proponents are hailing the news and suggesting that battery technology is more than up to the challenge. Electric motors generate maximum torque the moment they start spinning, which is how the Tesla Roadster can launch from 0 to 60 in just 3.9 seconds – significantly faster than the gas-powered Lotus it is based upon. The world’s current battery car speed champ, the Shelby Ultimate Aero EV, is rated to hit 60 in just 2.5 seconds – though that’s still a second slower than a current F1 race car.
A number of other high-performance battery vehicles are under development, including the Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell, an electric version of the maker’s gull-winged 2-seater, and Audi promises to bring a version of its battery-based eTron to market by mid-decade.
The biggest challenge for an electric vehicle race series will be range, however. Driven at more mundane speeds, most current battery cars get about 100 miles per charge – though Tesla claims more than double that for the Roadster. Longer ranges would be possible – but the added battery mass would reduce performance.
Formula One is already embracing “electrification,” with manufacturers like Lotus and Ferrari planning to roll out electric “turbochargers” for the 2013 series.
But that plan – sponsored by Todt – has generated the opposition of Bernie Ecclestone, generally conceded to be the most powerful man in F1 racing. Ecclestone is also expected to try to shoot down the new green car program.