Pre-season testing is one of the most important aspects of both Formula E in F1 and FE. Only through intensive test times in the days leading up to the start of the race, identifying and solving problems in the car can we remain competitive in the following year of the season.
Unknowingly, formula E for the 2022 season has just completed a 4-day pre-season test at the Valencia Circuit in Spain. Soon, the eighth season of FE will kick off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 28-29 January 2022, with a total of 16 games in 12 cities around the world throughout the year.
In last year's 2020/21 seventh season, Mercedes-Benz team was lucky to win both the team and the driver's championship. It should be known that Mercedes-Benz is still a new team that officially joined FE in 2019.
The Jaguar team, which has been competing in FE for many years, finally won the second place in the team's total points, and won the best record since the race.
Automakers are actively participating in formula E's purpose, as Jaguar Land Rover put it: "Further upgrading electric vehicle technology through the race platform brings a lot of experience in research and development to the electrification of its future mass production models." ”
Including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Jaguar, Nissan and other manufacturers' fleets, can independently develop a powertrain including electric motors, transmissions, inverters and rear suspension parts. Most fleets will focus on developing efficient and lightweight powertrains that will improve the performance and range of their electric vehicles in the future.
But Formula E, which is fast approaching its eighth year, has been in full swing for the first two years, and some people have even proposed replacing Formula 1 with FE.
But during the epidemic, the influence of FE has cooled down significantly, what is the problem?
On the one hand, after the epidemic, the Chinese station was cancelled, and there was no strong publicity from the depot in China, and the influence was much worse than before. There is also a big contraction even in foreign competitions, without the excitement of the race, there is no soul of racing.
The same impact of the epidemic has delayed the upgrading of FE racing cars, and the 2022 season still uses the second generation of racing cars (Spark Gen2). Originally, FE led the trend of electric vehicle technology, and now it has been unchanged for three years.
In order to control costs, the organizing committee required all 12 teams to use the same carbon fiber chassis and common components such as batteries. On the one hand, this allows the small team to have room to play, but it will limit the strength of Porsche, Audi, BMW and other big factories.
Looking ahead to the 2022 season, FE is likely to be affected by more and more exciting F1 races, as 2022 is the year of the major changes in the rules of F1 racing, and there will be many variables that will attract fans and sponsors.
However, there will always be some good news in the paddock, according to foreign media reports, Maserati may join Formula FE from 2023, and this decision will be made early next year.
Another point of interest is that the second generation of Formula E cars currently used by FE will be in service in the last year, and there will be revolutionary new cars launched next year, including supercharging technology and so on. As a result, there may be some new technologies next year that will be unveiled early in this year's tests.