[jw14]

I think Formula E is kind of useless. Racing competitions can be a good engine for innovation, but last I heard Formula E has all cars using a standard battery. Isn't the battery the biggest thing we want to improve on EVs?

They hold the races in cities instead of "real" race tracks, which I guess is cool if that's your home town but as a (lukewarm) racing fan I would rather see tracks I know. I wonder if they also want to avoid comparisons with ICE race cars. The Gen 2 Formula E did 0-60 in 2.8s... which is achievable in some ICE street cars. Hopefully the Gen 3 is more impressive.

[jwcooper]

I'm not really sure Formula E is big enough yet to put a lot of resources into battery tech like Formula 1 can engine tech.

I believe the biggest reason they are in cities now is that the battery capacity/tech just isn't there yet for something like Spa or COTA for the distance and speeds required for an interesting race. City courses allow for a design that offers a lot of regenerative braking.

Another reason to host them in cities is that cities are great for fans. Lots of hotels, restaurants, people buy tickets, etc. Cities are likely more open to Formula E due to the quieter cars and lower pollution too.

So, not useless, just maybe not interesting to you.

[thebigman433]

Long term the goal probably includes custom batteries, but Im assuming now they arent included because they want to keep costs lower. Teams do get to design powertrain stuff though, which is why you see car manufacturers in it. Good way to get some advanced R&D, and brand awareness obviously.

[oleganza]

For publicity reasons F1 and Indycar/CART virtually never race on the same tracks. Otherwise people would point fingers and say that US series are slower overall, or top speeds in F1 are not as jaw-dropping as in US.

I'd bet FE has similar arrangement - no one wants obvious comparison with an obvious loser by some metric.

[JshWright]

Just this weekend Formula E held the Monaco ePrix, using the same layout F1 uses.

As a comparison, the FE pole time was 1:29.839. Last year the F1 pole lap was 1:10.346.

[pmontra]

IndyCar pole position at COTA 2019: 1:46.0177.

Formula 1 2019 and 2021: 1:32.029, 1:32.910.

Moto GP 2021: 2:02.781.

[tlb]

In battery design, there's always an energy - safety trade-off. The proper role of racing regulations is to prevent a race to the bottom in safety. So I'm in favor of standardizing the battery.

[Scoundreller]

If I've gathered anything from "innovation" in F1/FE, it's because of heavy-handed regulations forcing the teams to innovate. Just enrol bankrupting fines/disqualification for battery fires/injuries/death (if they don't already) and we'll see innovation there that can trickle into mainstream.