Electric Racing

10th Annual REFUEL EV Track Event is July 1 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: REFUEL is an opportunity to drive an electric car or motorcycle, in race conditions, on one of the pre-eminent race tracks in the USA, the famed WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. It is conducted by a racing school, Speed Ventures, and is a time-trial race meaning participants are racing against the clock and not against each other. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the REFUEL racing event, and the organizers expect a large turnout -- if nothing else, lots of Tesla Model 3's will have been delivered by then, and Model 3 owners might turn out in droves.

A mythical history of the Formula E: How did the Formula E come about? This video will tell you a mythical, and not quite accurate, rendition of history.

ABT driver Lucas di Grassi tells us how to drive a Formula E electric race car: Technical details of the Formula E race cars, as told from the drivers seat, talking about kilowatt-hours and regenerative racing rates.

Chinese driver, Ho-Pin Tung, tests the Formula E electric race car: Thumbs up, could be the future of racing.

Delivery of first 10 Formula E cars to the teams at Donnington Park: Unlike other race series, all the Formula E teams are co-located at one HQ facility in Donnington Park.

Donnington Park's amazing rebirth as Formula E's headquarters, and its long history in racing: Donnington Park was largely abandoned until a couple years ago, and using that circuit as the Formula E headquarters brings this historical track into the modern age.

First Formula E test at full power with full size battery pack: Previous test was at lower power, smaller battery pack.

First full simulation of Formula E prior to the 2014 season opener in Beijing: After months of testing, preparation, a full race simulation was run prior to the real race in Beijing.

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag explains the electric car racing series, slated to run in city centers around the world: This interview for the Financial Times allows Agag to explain away some Formula E controversies.

Formula E aims to sell 77 million electric cars, slash health care costs, slash oil consumption, via electric racing: The Formula E series has big goals for itself.

Formula E assembled this amazing corporate consortium to develop electric race cars for the future of racing: Unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, the partnership behind the Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E car design included Renault, Williams, SPARK, Michelen, and Qualcomm.

Formula E electric racing is mining the trend towards electric cars, bringing EV "cool" to racing: If the future is electric, the FIA wants to be there.

Formula E race car tires will work for both wet and dry roads without changing tires: The ingeniously design tires, supplied by Michelin, have light weight, more efficiency, and the flexibility to run in wet or dry conditions.

Formula E showcasing Qualcomm's technology for wireless charging: Wireless charging means not having to plug the car in - and Formula E hopes to, eventually, deploy wireless charging pads on the race track.

Formula E's electric racing aims to showcase electric cars, increase adoption: Fast, sexy looking, electric race cars, in city centers, shows off electric car capabilities.

Formula E's first test - low power, and small battery pack - still cool

Jaguar I-PACE sets production electric car lap record at Laguna Seca, to appear at Concours d'Elegance

Jaguar to make history with all-electric I-PACE race series

Lightning breaks records at el Mirage in shakedown run for new LS-2?? electric hyperbike :

Lightning Motorcycles can rightfully claim to produce the fastest production motorcycle in the world, an all-electric bike dubbed the LS-218. The name was earned in August 2012, when Lightning set a land speed record at Bonneville of 218 miles per hour. The record was actually 215.960 miles/hr averaged over two runs with the faster run being 218 miles/hr, forming the basis for the bike's name. The next year they took the bike to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race, and beat the entire motorcycle field by over 20 seconds. That bike was one of a handful of prototype bikes Lightning built for racing, and the company now sells a production version to the public.

Lightning's engineering team has been at work on two tracks -- One is developing the manufacturing expertise required to produce motorcycles -- The other is to develop a new prototype bike. The team plans to take this new bike to the Bonneville speed trials this summer where the team intends to set a new land speed record, and the new bike will be named after whatever speed it attains. In the riders seat is a leading land speed record holder, Jim Hoogerhyde.

In their "shakedown run", at the El Mirage track in California, they recorded a 211.730 miles/hr record from a standing start. The standing start is a different format than is used at Bonneville, which uses a "flying start" where racers are timed over a 1 mile stretch in the middle of a longer run. In November 2012, Lightning recorded a 189 miles/hr standing start speed at El Mirage compared to the 215.590 miles/hr record at Bonneville. Does this imply they might hit 250 miles/hr at Bonneville?

The company has long used racing as the cauldron within which to develop their motorcycles. They achieved many wins in earlier years, but the last couple years their racing program took a back seat to the priority of building bikes for customers. Lightning has long promised a range of motorcycles targeted more typical usages than racing, such as the daily commute. This press release repeats that promise. At their shop I've seen several prototypes such as an urban-oriented scooter, and a street bike meant for every-day riders.

Previously, Lightning had partnered with Remy for the motor and Ener1 for EnerDel batteries. In this press release Lightning names Farasis as the battery partner. That company has supplied super powerful battery cells to several electric racing teams.

McLaren on the most power dense electric motor in the world, at the heart of Formula E race cars: Weighing in at 26 kilograms, producing over 200 horsepower, the Formula E motor has the highest power density known to McLaren Engineering.

Meet the Formula E teams and drivers at the Donnington Park headquarters: Electric racing is new to professional race car drivers, but these guys are excited that electric may be the future of racing.

Mercedes-Benz to join Formula E competition in sixth season :

The Formula E electric race car series will be joined by another large car manufacturer for the 2019/2020 season (season 6). Mercedes-Benz had previously intended to join during the 2018/2019 season, but has instead chosen to wait a year.

On eve of Formula E's 2014 season opener in Beijing, a look back: Highlights of events leading to the first ever Formula E race, in Beijing.

Porsche to join Formula E competition in sixth season :

The Formula E electric race car series will be joined by another large car manufacturer for the 2019/2020 season (season 6). Porsche is a major performance car brand, and plans to join the Formula E series the year after next.

Race 1, Beijing 2014 season opener extended highlights: The culmination of many months, the very first Formula E electric car race in Beijing. A flawless race until the very last corner

Race 1, Beijing 2014 season opener full race: The culmination of many months, the very first Formula E electric car race in Beijing. A flawless race until the very last corner

Race 1, Beijing interviews with Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag: Alejandro Agag explains the fan boost, future expansion plans, and more fan questions

Race 1, Beijing interviews with Formula E drivers: Driver interviews in Beijing at the Formula E 2014 season opener.

Race 2, Putrajaya driver interviews: With Sam Bird winning, the 2nd Formula E race was action packed.

Race 2, Putrajaya full race: With Sam Bird winning, the 2nd Formula E race was action packed.

Race 2, Putrajaya pre-race driver interviews: Going into the second race, drivers talk about their experiences and hopes.

Race 2, Putrajaya pre-race highlights and results: Going into the second race, drivers talk about their experiences and hopes.

Race 2, Putrajaya race highlights: With Sam Bird winning, the 2nd Formula E race was action packed.

Race 3, Punta del Este driver interviews: With Sebastian Buemi winning, the 2nd Formula E race was action packed.

Race 3, Punta del Este full race: Sebastian Buemi winning an action packed race

Race 3, Punta del Este pre-race driver interviews: Going into the third race, drivers talk about their experiences and hopes.

Race 3, Punta del Este pre-race highlights and results: Going into the third race, pre-race testing and qualifying.

Race 3, Punta del Este race highlights: Sebastian Buemi winning an action packed race

Race 4, Buenos Aires full race (Formula E): Antonio Felix de Costa winning an action packed chaotic race that saw several leaders either crash out or pushed to the back of the pack

Race 4, Buenos Aires pre-race driver interviews (Formula E): Going into the fourth race, drivers talk about their experiences and hopes.

Race 4, Buenos Aires pre-race highlights and results (Formula E): Going into the fourth race, pre-race testing and qualifying.

Race 4, Buenos Aires race highlights (Formula E): Antonio Felix de Costa winning an action packed chaotic race that saw several leaders either crash out or pushed to the back of the pack

Race 4, Buenos Ares driver interviews (Formula E)

The electric drive train for Formula E race cars is designed to racing standards by companies already associated with Formula 1: The drive train is critical to Formula E's success.

The exciting Formula E electric racing car design: Causing excitement and interest means a top-notch design, co-developed between Dallara and Spark Racing Technologies.

These professional race car drivers drove electric Formula E cars, and are blown away by the future of racing: Proving that electric cars don't have to be slow boring ugly golf carts, Formula E has set out to revolutionize motorsports.

What is the Formula E electric race series?: A "frequently-asked-questions" style rundown of everything we need to know about the Formula E racing series. At least, the "everything" that fits into 5 minutes.

Williams Engineering on battery packs for the Formula E electric race cars: Derived from Williams' experience with KERS battery packs in Formula 1, they've supplied the 40+ battery packs required for the Formula E 2014-15 season.