GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => F1 Teams => Topic started by: Scott on October 05, 2016, 11:48:14 AM
-
Hoping they won't have flame outs. Ironically Merc is the last to the game of e-cars in Europe, at least the ones that are catching on, although I've read that the Power window buttons in the Tesla are actually Mercedes...
http://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/37553101
-
Firstly, I have owned several older Mercedes, and if Tesla uses their power window buttons it is a big mistake, have spent many hours getting the buttons to work, finicky and frustrating.
2nd, I worked for many years for a high technology battery company that was also involved in developing hydrogen fuel cells. The company had a prototype electric vehicle designed and built during the late 1980's, and carried out extensive testing. It was pretty much useless as a daily driver. Loaded up with as many batteries as possible it was the energy equivalent of 2.5 gallons of gasoline, so the range was not great. If it was raining or dark, the windshield wipers and headlights drained the batteries very quickly. And of course there was no heater or windshield defoggers, hopeless situation and don't ask about air conditioning.
While there have been some advances in battery technology, the underlying problems remain, including an 8 hour recharge requirement and several thousand dollar battery replacement every 2 or 3 years. And I have experienced many exploding or flaming "high tech" batteries.... not uncommon.
3rd The cost of recharging the batteries is often disregarded or minimized. Electric energy is not free, and is actually a major infrastructure cost. At the moment recharging a very few electric cars is almost negligible compared to the overall energy usage. But if several million electric vehicles plugged in there would be shortages in the form of blackouts or brownouts in most, if not all, areas. The existing electric grid can not provide the equivalent energy of the present fossil fuel usage. Disposal of used batteries is a major problem that you do not hear about.
4th I purchased the experimental electric vehicle from my former employers, and after a couple of years of working with it, I removed the electric components and installed a "proper" gasoline engine. It suddenly became a useful vehicle that I could actually drive in any weather.
5th I actually like the idea of electric vehicles, but there is a lot of work to be done to make them practical for more than a few dozen users who live in temperate climates that have no rain or night. I still lean toward hydrogen fuel cell or hybrid technology. For these reasons I agree with the current F1 engine regulations, and would even follow the electric racing series if it were better covered by the media.
The gasoline engine really does need either vast improvement or total replacement.
-
I always thought of FE as a Monty Python skit. "We're going to prove how practical our cars are by showing that it take two complete cars to get one driver through a sprint race. Oh, and we'd better let the fans determine the outcome of the race via Twitter. With these silent little things putting around, we'll need some way to keep them awake."
Now, Audi is leaving LeMans racing for FE. I didn't think that VW Group would keep two teams in the series, especially with the financial burden of the diesel settlement. Still, they'd have done better to get completely out that be associated with this joke series.
-
I think it's a case of manufacturers covering their bases, the FE series is quite cheap to be involved in so as soon as a couple took an interest the rest are piling in to keep abreast of the technology.
Already the series is upping the amount of regenerated energy they are collecting and their aim is to make the cars last the whole race in the 2018/19 season which is the year Merc will be debuting in. Merc have plenty of experience in harvesting KERS and ERS from FI so could well have some sort of advantage when they arrive on the grid.