2 5 F o c u s FIA President Jean Todt, AVL had the pleasure of making an essential contribution to this new electric racing series. ‹F›: Please tell us what role AVL had in the creation of the Formula E regulations. ‹Schöggl›: In a team together with the responsible people from the FIA we practically started out with a blank piece of paper. The FIA’s goal was to impose as few restrictions as possible in the Formula E regulations in order to expedite future innovation in electric drives – particularly where energy storage and electric drives were concerned. To make the Formula E Championship attractive to spectators, the electric racing cars will achieve top speeds close to what we are used to in the Formula 1 (exceeding 300 km/h); lap times are expected to be faster than those in the Formula 3. Based on these FIA requirements, we carried out some comprehensive simulations of a number of possible vehicle configurations. Due to the expected development costs and safety considerations, the tests very soon delivered certain basic values. ‹F›: How is the still rather low energy content of batteries compensated for in the new Formula Electric? ‹Schöggl›: For technical reasons, to achieve the energy content of one kilogram of gas, it still takes a battery weighing roughly 80 kg. With one kilogram of gas this does not sound all that bad. But 10 kg of fuel would mean an 800-kg battery. To compensate for the storage system’s low energy density, a totally new and highly innovative aerodynamic system with freely adjustable wings was designed, especially for the Formula E. “Driving on a straight line, the wings can be alcertain period of time – here, too, the new Formula Electric gives suppliers the attractive opportunity to develop new technologies and present them to a broad public. ‹F›: Will in the near future the new technologies developed for the Formula E be used in series vehicles too? ‹Schöggl›: One of the FIA’s objectives is to use the new Formula Electric to boost the further development of electric drive systems and electric storage systems. An example for this is that the battery must not weigh more than 300 kg. Otherwise it can be designed freely. Here too, the intention is to offer suppliers a kind of playground, where they can present and try out their new technologies. The technologies developed for the Formula E will not immediately be found in a serial vehicle, as they are technologies in an advance development stage, which will still require four to five years of development before they are ready for series production. ‹F›: Drawing on its comprehensive electrification know-how, is AVL in a position to develop the powertrain of an electric racing car or even an entire vehicle? ‹Schöggl›: We naturally offer our customers and their engineers to work with us in a team, so that we can bundle our capabilities in the areas powertrain development, storage technology and vehicle engineering with the aim to develop the future winning car – from simulation and design all the way to the production of the racing car. < tered, making them as flat as required, while in curves they are adjusted to a steeper angle to create more surface pressure. This generates energy savings of up to 40 percent – with the same lap time and a maximum speed which is up to 35 km/h higher. There ›› Comisioned by Jean Todt, AVL made an esential contribution to the new electric racing series. ‹‹ will also be innovation where battery recharging is concerned: The charging process has to take place inside the pits between two races within a
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