Tuesday 24th April 2018

Electric GT race calendar confirmed

If you didn't like Formula E, then bad news - more EV motorsport is coming

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Remember last November, when PH drove the Tesla Model S racing car? Remember, too, when one of the first comments read: "Just no. Racing should smell of unburnt fuel, sound like wasps killing each other whilst strangling eagles, I'm not for this at all."? It's fair to say the reception on PistonHeads was mixed.

Today comes confirmation that the Electric GT series has an 'Electric Production Car Series' championship calendar set up for 2018-19. Beginning at Jerez in November, the Teslas will compete across Europe at circuits including Silverstone, Assen and the Nurburgring before the season finale at Portimao in November 2019. While dates and locations are subject to change, EGT says that the grid will feature 10 teams of two cars, plus every weekend will include a 20-minute practice, a 60-minute quali and two races: one during the day, and one at dusk.

There's more than that, though, because - in case you hadn't guessed - EPCS isn't a regular race series. So the support race will be electric karting, with an eSports Series having a presence too. Fans will also be able to stream EPCS races via Periscope, Twitch and YouTube. Each Electric GT weekend will be, according to organisers, "a... festival of technology and innovation for sustainability."

So something different, for sure. CEO of Electric GT Holdings Mark Gemmell, a software engineer until not all that long ago, said: "We have received a great deal of interest from circuits around the world excited by the possibilities that electric racing brings. We've got lots more news to come very soon. I'm stoked about the future, and we are all looking forward to bringing elbows-out electric racing action to fans around the world." To that end the EPCS is offering some complimentary tickets to the opening round at Jerez for those fans who register on its website. Would you be interested? Would you not? Floor is yours...

 

[JDM_virgin]

Think i might start watching all my favourite racing on mute and see if i still enjoy it as like it or not change is coming. MotoGP on mute, WTCC on mute and sad to say LeMans on mute, as good as it is watching great overtakes and watching strategies play out, noise is 80% of the experience. The thunder of a DucatiGP bike, seemless shift of the honda or the V8 rumble of a corvette at full chat coming into indy....savour it whilst it lasts

[jason61c]

Just because its here, doesn't make it right.

Luckily the Motogp roadmap is years of electric GP bikes.

I wonder how many rival series start in a few years with combustion only engines and all the positives that go with it.

[Truckosaurus]

I'm not against electric cars racing on principle but having a one make series sort of defeats the object. The electric cars need to be racing alongside ICE and hybrid cars. Then we can have the interest of differing power delivery styles or power saving driving styles. This might also improve recharging technology (speed of charging etc.)

[romac]

I wonder if these motor circuits will have the charging infrastructure and capacity to charge all these cars at the same time?

Perhaps we'll see similar to what I saw the other week: an EV VW Transporter near the British Museum in London, parked up and connected to... ...a Honda generator! LOL

[rodericb]

romac said:

I wonder if these motor circuits will have the charging infrastructure and capacity to charge all these cars at the same time?

Hmm, that gives me an idea - have standard fast chargers in the pits for refuelling but with the rule that only three quarters of them work at the same time. Then while they're charging the drivers can run around a replica of the track, standardized so that one lap by foot around the mini-replica takes roughly the same time as the mean lap time in a car around the real circuit. So while the car is charging, the driver can still be 'lapping' while their car is charging! I was going to say that they could spend that recharging time drinking bad coffee and stale pastries but those drivers are usually pretty fit guys and wouldn't want to go for that....

[The Wookie]

romac said:

I wonder if these motor circuits will have the charging infrastructure and capacity to charge all these cars at the same time?

Perhaps we'll see similar to what I saw the other week: an EV VW Transporter near the British Museum in London, parked up and connected to... ...a Honda generator! LOL

They’ll do what they usually do at Formula E races and tests; bring along banks of large 3 phase portable generators

Which is probably what we’ll start seeing in motorway service stations if EV take up increases without any significant infrastructure investment

[Hoofy]

JDM_virgin said:

Think i might start watching all my favourite racing on mute and see if i still enjoy it as like it or not change is coming. MotoGP on mute, WTCC on mute and sad to say LeMans on mute, as good as it is watching great overtakes and watching strategies play out, noise is 80% of the experience. The thunder of a DucatiGP bike, seemless shift of the honda or the V8 rumble of a corvette at full chat coming into indy....savour it whilst it lasts

Yep. I still remember how the Marcos LM600s sounded - and felt - when I watched them race at Silverstone.

[lestiq]

They should race at night, with UV lights lighting up a fluorescent track, the cars should be lit up too, make it a spectacle! Formula e would be so much better with a bit of theatre injected into it.

[MikeGoodwin]

Because racing is sustainable.

I guess it will only help drive electric technology forward but whatever I wont be watching it. Formula E was cringeworthy,

[foxbody-87]

If you want the same thrill of this but cheaper tickets then check out your nearest remote controlled car racing club.

[DanielSan]

Will it be sustainable in the same way Formula E is? Looks green on the TV, but the paddock is full of diesel generators charging batteries and twice as many trucks as an F1 paddock due to all the extra crap that needs to carried? Nevermind the fact they’re still flying all over the world to go and race....

[Dr Gitlin]

DanielSan said:

Will it be sustainable in the same way Formula E is? Looks green on the TV, but the paddock is full of diesel generators charging batteries and twice as many trucks as an F1 paddock due to all the extra crap that needs to carried? Nevermind the fact they’re still flying all over the world to go and race....

This is completely untrue, as even a cursory googling would have revealed. While the series does bring generators to the track to charge the cars, they run on biofuel:

said:

It is true that an EV is only as clean as the source of its electricity. For the cars, that means 40kW generators that run on glycerin derived from the biofuel process by a supplier called Aquafuel. Power for the rest of the event comes via a microgrid provided by the series' energy partner, Enel. Until now, the company has been providing some on-site power to Formula E races via a 12kWh battery charged by solar panels. For the NYC ePrix, those panels have been upgraded so they're bifacial. Mounted on a white surface, they capture both the light that reflects back to their undersides and direct sunlight from above.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/07/racing-comes-to-the-big-apple-the-new-york-city-eprix/3/

[baysis]

Unfortunately the circuits will become more and more interested in this as it means more days per year of racing without having to worry about noise limits/complaints from neighbors.

[Atomic12C]

Who exactly is providing the demand for this shyte ?

[Alias218]

I can just see EV endurance racing: 35 minutes of tyre shredding action followed by 8 hours of charging while the drivers get some kip.

Either that, or just keep going until you run out of juice. Last car standing wins. Commence hypermiling tediousness.

[CaptainRAVE]

Painful to listen to, inferior technology, slow. Couldn't stand Formula E for more than a few minutes. Having to change cars half way through summed it up for me. Once they can compete on real tracks for the duration, it would at least have a chance to maintain some of my interest.

[Dr Gitlin]

CaptainRAVE said:

Painful to listen to, inferior technology, slow. Couldn't stand Formula E for more than a few minutes. Having to change cars half way through summed it up for me. Once they can compete on real tracks for the duration, it would at least have a chance to maintain some of my interest.

Better get ready for next season then.

[GingerPixel]

I'm actually much more interested in electric tin-tops banging doors than single seaters that look like they're doing about 25mph around the capital of Uzbekistan.

(I know FE cars are much faster than that, but something about the size/shape/track layout just makes them look so slow)

[tgx]

I wonder if they'll have tires made from recycled gyre plastic?

[SpeckledJim]

Can a racing Tesla be adapted to a 'cartridge' style battery system?

Changing batteries in seconds or minutes rather than charging them in hours?

If so, they could potentially do very well in modern GT championships?