Written by | Little devil
In the era of fuel vehicles, F1 can become the most expensive and most concerned racing project in the world because every F1 car running on the track condenses the highest technical efforts of manufacturers. And the power performance and fuel efficiency they have are not comparable to the family cars or even supercars we come into contact with every day.
It should be known that although the engine of the F1 car is only 1.6L, it can burst out a top speed of more than 300km/h, and it takes less than 2.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h.
In the past decade, as the automobile industry has moved from the fuel age to the electric age, electric racing has also begun to rise slowly. After all, for car companies, electric racing is the best touchstone for electrification technology.
On the one hand, car companies can apply more cutting-edge technologies to events and verify the reliability and feasibility of the technology in order to civilianize the event technology; on the other hand, car companies can also use the influence of various events to establish a better brand image for themselves in the field of electric vehicles.
Among the various electric race cars, formula e cars, which also have a large number of cutting-edge technology blessings, are also located at the top of the electric vehicle technology chain, and due to their super power and lightweight performance, FE cars have surpassed F1 cars to become the strongest energy efficiency players on the track today.
1st Generation FE Racing (2014-2017)
2nd Generation FE Racing (2018-2022)
Since the first Fe Formula 2014, FE Racing has launched two generations, each of which has significantly improved the quality of FE racing through advances in powertrain and battery technology.
The third generation of cars unveiled before this year's E-Prix race in Monaco has pushed performance and efficiency to a new level, as officially declared - the third generation of FE cars is truly the "most efficient car in the world".
Third generation FE racing
Compared with the second generation of racing cars, in addition to the completely different styling design, the new car has also undergone great changes in terms of power and efficiency.
The third-generation FE race car was still designed for faster speed, removing the front and rear wheel covers and also eliminating the original separate tail wing in the center above the tail, but with two more jet fins at the rear. It is said that this is because the aerodynamic design of the car "takes the lead" from the fighter, which is why it looks a bit like an F-18 fighter with wheels.
The new shape allows the car to cope with this kind of street-to-street wheel-to-wheel race more "agile". FE racing also hopes that the smaller, lighter design of the car will bring greater entertainment to the race. After all, any tweak that allows for more showdowns on the track usually means a better viewing experience for fans.
For example, on the E-Prix circuit in Monaco last year, there were 6 leading changes and more than 60 overtaking, bringing more unpredictability and fun to the event. The faster and lighter third-generation car will be 2 to 4 seconds faster than before, both in qualifying and official competitions, which will also make the excitement of the race upgrade again.
In addition to the aerodynamic optimization of the previously mentioned styling, the increase in speed is of course inseparable from the most important power system of the car. According to FE officials, the third generation of racing cars is the first formula car to have both front and rear powertrains. In addition to the 350kW rear axle motor, the car has added a 250kW front axle motor to the front axle.
In qualifying and attack mode, the new car can output a maximum power of 350 kW, in race mode its power will be limited to 300 kW, and the front motor will only be used for energy recovery.
Due to the increase in output power by 100kW, the top speed of the new car has been increased to 320km/h, which is 40km/h higher than that of the second-generation model, and more importantly, the new FE racing car also brings higher output efficiency. Its power-to-weight ratio is twice as high as the output efficiency of similar combustion engine racing cars, thanks to the high efficiency of the motor itself.
The electric power system can convert more than 90% of the energy into mechanical power, while the energy conversion rate of the internal combustion engine is only about 40%, which is also an important reason why the third generation of FE racing cars can become the "most efficient racing car in the world".
Along with a stronger power output comes a stronger regenerative energy recovery capability, and since the front and rear axles are equipped with an energy recovery system, the energy recovery performance of the new car is more than twice that of the second-generation model, so that the car runs for 45 minutes without relying entirely on the energy stored by the battery, and in the E-Prix race, about 40% of its energy will be generated by the regenerative brake.
Due to the efficient performance of the energy recovery system, the car also boldly eliminated the traditional hydraulic brakes at the rear wheel to further enhance the lightweight performance of the whole vehicle.
First-generation battery pack
Second-generation battery pack
The battery pack, the "hardest hard bone" in the lightweighting of racing cars, has also been better modified.
First of all, in terms of weight, the weight of the new battery pack after weight loss is 284 kg, providing 51 kWh of power, compared with the previous generation model, although it is less than 3 kWh of power, but the weight reduction is up to 101 kg, and the weight of the whole vehicle has also been reduced from the previous 920 kg to the current 840 kg. Although the official did not disclose the specific number, everyone understands that the lighter weight also means that the new battery pack must have a higher energy density.
Secondly, the charging power of the new battery pack has also increased from the previous 350kW to 600kW, which is almost twice the power of the most efficient household electric vehicle charging pile at present, so it is likely that there will be an inbound power-up game similar to F1 pit station refueling in the new season.
As for cost, batteries are the most expensive components to manufacture in electric vehicles today, and FE racing is no exception. While FE race cars use standardized components (including external charging infrastructure), they are also more expensive to manufacture than second-generation race cars because the new batteries are more complex.
It is reported that the cost of a complete battery system is 250,000 euros, while the maximum cost of the third generation of racing cars is controlled at 340,000 euros, and the battery accounts for more than 75% of the total cost of the car. However, in terms of total cost, compared to the million euros of manufacturing cost of F1 cars, FE cars will obviously not cause too high a cost burden to teams or car companies.
In addition to the optimization and improvement of performance, the new generation of FE racing cars also pays more attention to the use of various environmentally friendly materials to minimize the harm caused to the environment.
For example, racing tires use 26% sustainable materials, including natural rubber and recycled fibers. Many parts recycled from second-generation cars are also used on the body, which can reduce the carbon footprint of new cars by 10%, and this practice also makes a new history of making Formula racing bodies from recycled materials.
In the raw materials of the power battery, the official also uses recyclable metals, and the battery will be recycled after the completion of the service life.
At present, FE officials have done some track testing and simulation of the new car, but the team has not yet conducted the whole vehicle test. Fe Organizing Committee said that this year, seven teams from DS, Jaguar, Mahinda, Maserati, NIO, Nissan and Porsche have signed contracts with the FIA to join the third generation of FE racing in the ninth season and start testing of new cars this winter.
FE's third-generation racing car represents a leap forward in motorsport and electric vehicles, and through continuous technical optimization, it at least proves that high performance, efficiency and sustainability can be perfectly combined in electric vehicles.
As spectators, in addition to looking forward to these "most powerful, lightest and fastest" zero-emission race cars in history to bring more exciting track performances, we also hope to experience various cutting-edge technologies from FE racing on civilian electric vehicles as soon as possible, so that civilian electric vehicles can become a new and efficient representative of the passenger car market. 【iDailycar】