Not sure how many pay attention to Formula E… I haven’t in the last couple years though I enjoyed the first few seasons. But they just released their third generation car and I gotta say, this is one of the wonkiest looking race cars I’ve ever seen.
So many bizarre angles and strange proportions. It looks like someone described what a formula car should look like to someone else and then they drew it with their eyes closed.
Cool that the tech is improving and the cars are becoming legitimately quick race cars now.
No rear brakes, it does all it’s deceleration on the rear axle from energy regen.
Wonky is putting it mildly…
Where does the Boy Wonder sit?
It might be interesting if this was a demo car in the same sense that the FIA put out their demo cars for F1 2022 (which I did find disasteful to the spirit of F1, but there you go), and there was potential for interpretation and improvement (which we got with the real 2022 F1 cars), but an entire grid of the same spec car is ugly at the best of times… but this is another level.
Formula E is in a bit of weird place at the moment. I kinda test myself to watch it now and again as to not be overly bias against it, but every time it gives me the heebie jeebies. Maybe the slightly disingenuous feeling around it. I never get the feeling the people there racing REALLY wanna be there. It’s so cold and just … weird.
… and the recent reports from NCAP and co which is starting to put doubts into the electric car green image facade makes it even more questionable.
but we’ll see. Maybe people will like this Gen3 stuff… but it’s still stuck in ‘early adopter’ syndrome
I think it looks cool. Would race.
The racing was good in the beginning but driving standards turned into amateur touring car level, and the gimmicks like Fan Boost and Attack Mode really put me off. It didn’t feel like serious motorsport there for a while, it felt like a real-life video game. Not to mention the disaster at Valencia where half the field ran out of energy. Made it look properly amateur.
I honestly don’t think the series will stick around much longer, unless it is propped up by electric-invested corporations. Some major manufacturers came and left quite quickly, and it seems like there are other alternative fuel sources that are being touted as “the future” over electric now, so Formula E’s major boon as a futuristic, cutting edge technology is starting to wane. Electric cars are no longer the future, they’re getting to the point where they are quite mainstream now.
One thing that always bothered me from a sporting perspective is how you have a field full of strong drivers, some who were F1 caliber, but the unique characteristics of the cars meant that some of that talent wasn’t able to shine through because the power delivery, street tires etc. mean the car seemed really odd to drive. You almost have to become a specialist to drive it fast.
I much prefer the Gen 2 car:
Dom you’re the first person I’ve seen anywhere online say it looks cool.
I kind of saw it like pro lo206 racing. I enjoyed watching it on the street tracks and the racing was close and reminiscent of karting.
It does look like a video game car irl. I guess everyone wants smooth and flowing lines. I like the angles.
I think you touch upon some good points here. In addition I’ve always felt that electric racing has never really a cultural backing. It’s been a top down invention, not something ground up, and thus it’s always felt like an ‘early adopter’ product, which is fine, but not great for longevity unless it gains traction in the consciousnesses of a swathe of the population.
Electric cars just aren’t really a cultural force like petrol equivalents . no matter how hard the companies try to pretend they are. F1, despite it’s move into the modern sphere, is still fundamentally a sport embedded in 50s culture. We still all like to look back upon the era of Moss…Fangio and then onto the garagistas. Fans of F1 really identify with the sport and teams. Karting has a similar story of being created in the car parks of America. These are fundamental touch stones and are more important than people may appreciate.
Formula E doesn’t really have any of that. It’s a bit soulless. For sure, Formula E might end up working through brute force (though FIA would never let it threaten F1 and neither would Liberty) but it seems to be lacking something and some of its biggest cheerleaders have noticed - The steps Formula E must take to recapture its audience · RaceFans
I thought that this site was a Go Kart racing site. What does a GEN3 Formula E Car have to do with Go Kart Racing?
Its posted in the “Other Motorsports Incl Sim Racing” category
Not sold on Prius Racing (That’s what I call it), half the fun is hearing the engine winding up.