Greetings Everyone!

In this blog, I want to talk explain just how big an impact Motorsport has on combating air pollution, far beyond just the sustainability of events.

As mentioned in the previous blogs, I’ve talked about how Formula 1 and Formula E events are become more sustainable, minimizing carbon footprint wherever possible. However, beyond that, the technological development of these cars have always influenced the technology that goes into regular road cars. Over time, different car manufacturers have participated in different forms of Motorsport to promote various aspects of their road cars.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest automobile racing event, has always been famed for producing reliable, efficient and consistent cars that are able to endure the brutal 24 hours of racing. Porsche’s innovations in the sport during the 1980s gave the world disc brakes, for example. (https://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/trends-innovations/top-10-car-tech-from-racing.htm this link shows 10 different functions of road cars that came as a result of Motorsport innovation)

Porsche itself, has won Le Mans a record 19 times, with Audi in second with 13 titles to its name. As road cars, these brands have that same reputation for being reliable, which is no coincidence. These constructors know the value of showcasing their cars’ endurance performances at Le Mans, which trickles down to its regular road cars.

Now in the previous blogs, I mentioned a lot about Formula E and how its entire model is based on sustainability. Its cars are fully electric, producing zero emissions. Some of the constructors involved in Formula E include Audi, BMW, Porsche, Citroen, Jaguar, Mercedes and Nissan, all relatively common road car brands, and its no surprise, because with the current emissions limits being passed by governments around the world, forcing road car manufacturers to look into hybrid and electric technology, these constructors have recognized Formula E as THE Motorsport to promote their electric road cars with.

Take this example of Nissan’s Formula E car for the 2018/2019 season. In the background is the Nissan Leaf, one of models of Nissan’s Electric Vehicles (EVs). In 2017, Nissan sold more EVs than any other automobile company, including Tesla. Its entrance into Motorsport and Formula E in particular has helped promote its range of EVs even more.

This is what the other Formula E car manufacturers mentioned are doing as well, using Formula E as a platform to showcase their greener cars in order to sell them on the road, from Jaguar’s I-Pace to BMW’s i series, all of which are emission free.

Formula E is accelerating the development of electric cars. When the sport first began in 2014, cars were far slower and had to be swapped for a new one after 45 minutes as their batteries just didn’t have enough power to last long enough.

In just 5-6 years of development, these cars can not only last the full race length of about 1.5 hours, they can also reach Formula 1 car speeds of about 280 km/h. The sport is driving the EV battery and software technology at a rate of knots, and its reflected in road cars as well.

The Nissan Leaf and Audi e-tron, road EVs have doubled their ranges to about 270 miles in just a few years, coinciding with the development of Formula E cars. Remember, both are also constructors in the sport.

With such rapid technological advancements being made in Formula E, I personally wouldn’t be surprised to see even better EV technology in road cars in the coming years, which is fantastic for reducing emissions.

The old excuses of EVs not having enough range or not being powerful enough are becoming irrelevant, and this is massive news for reducing air pollution from car emissions. Formula E could be the key to the emissions problems in road vehicles. The impact that Motorsport has always had on road cars can never be underestimated, and in today’s world, where emissions and going green are top priorities in road cars, Motorsport has been doing a remarkable job.

Till the next blog!

Nandha

 

References:

https://www.espn.com.sg/f1/story/_/id/28395224/the-environment-pose-f1-biggest-challenge-2020s

https://www.euronews.com/living/2020/06/14/how-is-formula-e-shaping-the-cars-we-drive-in-the-real-world

https://www.redbull.com/sg-en/motorsport-tech-that-has-changed-road-car-production#:~:text=The%20technology%20continues%20to%20develop,on%20to%20using%20carbon%20fibre.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/trends-innovations/top-10-car-tech-from-racing.htm

https://www.engadget.com/2018-03-06-nissan-formula-e-livery-doppler.html