The boom in low emission vehicles doesn't just extend its grace to cars. We are seeing more and more electric motorcycles, scooters and buses travelling along our roads than ever. It's only natural that the next pathway for electric vehicles is competitive electric racing cars.
Formula E is a global racing series for electric cars and is debuting this month in Beijing. The event has attracted many ex F1 drivers, such as Karun Chandhok who will be racing for the Mahindra Racing Formula E outfit this season. The racer described the quiet world of Formula E as "a little bit eerie to start with," and Virgin Racing driver Jaime Alguersuari added "The sound is futuristic, which you don't expect. It's very light and high,"
Formula 1 is known for the loud screeches of wheels against tarmac, and deep rumbling engines - however that isn't the case for the low sound engines of the electric variety. Noise is heavily affiliated with the races, so much so that for the F1 Mercedes has experimented with a "megaphone exhaust" to increase the sound of the engines, however, the idea was dropped once they realised it was impractical.
Even though Formula E may not have the auditory effects of Formula 1, that doesn't seem to be a bad thing. Jaime Alguersuar welcomes to the change "At a certain speed, you hear just the wind. You hear the car. I miss the noise of the V10 engine, but I don't miss the modern Formula One car.”
We are glad to see competitive racing taking a greener turn, and look forward to the races.