With engine – or rather powertrain – regulations having been relaxed for the second season Formula E, the opening test at Donington Park last week saw a wide variety of interpretations to the new rules.
Between the team teams homologated for this season, we will see a massive variance of approaches to the new rules, with teams sussing everything from one to five gears and with it a veritable symphony of new sound emanating from the new machines – ranging from a prairie dog in heat, to a drunken party at George Lucas’s house.
While most teams have elected to feature one electric motor, DS Virgin Racing are expected to announce a twin-motor set-up utilising what is effectively one gear: i.e. a lone differential. Obviously gears help to maximise power, but you can still save time by having to use less gear changes. It’s all about finding an acceptable balance.
But with motor sport’s flagship ‘green’ series taking their first decisive technological leap, the burgeoning championship could quickly assume a technology campaign between old versus new.
Of course when I say old, I use the term very liberally. Team Aguri have been the sole team to abide with the bespoke package used by all teams during season one along with the McLaren Electronic Systems motor and five-speed Hewland gearbox.
While it’s a decision based on economics as much as efficiency, Team Aguri boss Mark Preston has rationalised his team’s ‘conservative’ approach with the notion that this year’s championship will be decided primarily on battery performance rather than outright speed.
“If you look at the difference in the energy usage across the grid in season one, there was a bigger margin than the efficiency gains you are going to be able to make with the motor in season two” says Preston.
“If you put all that together and look at the resources required to develop a new powertrain, we thought, you know what, it’s probably better to optimise this car for season two.”
Preston does have a point. While Williams Advanced Engineering have worked hard on incorporating new cells into last season’s batteries, there have been a few teething problems – most noticeably with Andretti Formula E, NEXTEV Team China and Audi Sport ABT. While the reasons behind their technical glitches have been vehemently protected, it’s believed initialisation sequences and thermal load issues have left many engineers scratching their heads.
However, Andretti team principal, Michael Andretti believes developing the new technology will pay dividenss in the short-to-mid-term, saying that once the technical gremlins are sorted, the new generation of powertrains will completely eclipse last year’s units.
“They (Team Aguri) may look like heroes the first few races because other teams may have problems”, hinted Andretti, “But once those things are figured out, they’re going to be left in the dust.”
With power output capped at 200kW for every team in full boost mode (maximum race power is being raised from 150kW to 170kW, with energy from the battery remains at 28kW/h), one hopes Andretti and those teams adopting a more aggressive approach have got their figures right.
With last year’s series going down to the wire, we could be in for a repeat situation, albeit in the form of hare versus tortoise.
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