One of the biggest benefits of moving to electric vehicles is the dramatic simplification of the drive train. By moving to a battery and a electric motor, you get to eliminate a lot of moving parts like a pistons, gears, clutches etc, and in a fully EV road car that’s a reality. In motorsports, specifically the new Formula E, the cars are still amazingly complex.
These images come from the Team Amlin Aguri and without the top cover, we get a great understanding that while the power supply is different, theses are every bit as cutting edge as Formula 1. Plenty of carbon fibre to keep weight to an absolute minimum, a flood of wires and piping are all part of the battery and cooling systems. Then of course there’s the mental suspension components. No less than 6 connecting arms on each side of the vehicle to the wheels.
It’s an interesting serious to watch, with competitive racing making for plenty of incidents. Although there’s no Australian rounds on the calendar this year, hopefully next year that changes. The sport is experimenting with plenty of new ideas, like the ability for fans to vote on who gets to use FanBoost.
For those playing at home, the Buenos Aires Round 4 Winners were Nick Heidfeld, Jean-Eric Vergne and Bruno Senna.
Check out the car in action in the race highlights video from the latest round of the championship in Argentina. Sadly Salvador Duran was excluded from the final results for exceeding energy consumption.
