I like that the fans get a say in the competition. Wiki says: "Cars will accelerate from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 220 km/h" Not bad for electric.
"And each driver has two cars, as the batteries used don't hold their charge long enough to complete a race."
No idea. I think 0-100 in 3 seconds and a top speed of 220 kph is pretty telling though. Here are the car specs: Overview - Official FIA Formula E Championship They don't really get into much detail though. Here is the part I think is cool: "What is FanBoost? Fans can give their favourite driver an extra speed boost by voting for them prior to the race. Who gets the FanBoost? The three drivers with the most votes will each receive one five-second ‘power boost’, temporarily increasing their car’s power from 150kw (202.5bhp) to 180kw (243bhp)."
10 to 15 minutes of battery life on this one 850hp Electric Racing Car: Driving the Drayson B12/69EV -- /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS - YouTube
Seen a documentary (I think on Nat Geo or Solar - now 9) on that stuff last week. Pretty bizar stuff - vehicles scream a bit (like a turbine) but no other noise. Even F1 has become boring now the exhaust systems and the general design of the engines has been 'improved'. I think they only intend the Formula E to use street circuits. However, I will not watch any of it as it has absolutely no appeal for me to watch a bunch of souped-up Prius' going around on a track in virtual silence....
Watched the first race on TV from Beijing, Last lap the leader Nicolas Prost was looking like being pipped to the line by Nick Heidfeld whoops. [video=youtube;r700R2c3t4s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r700R2c3t4s[/video] Most exciting part of the race. shhhhhhhush Both ok..