People think that electric cars should only be used in cities; that a silent car is dangerous and that racing cars must howl like banshees, although those who know the derivation “a banshee wail” will tell you that this is not such a good thing, as a wailing banshee is an omen of death, or at least it is if you like a bit of Irish mythology. Anyway, the marsh of the electric engine continues and although plans for an all-electric race in Paris this summer were cancelled, I am reliably informed that it will not be long before we see the first serious electric open-wheeler formula in Europe. Just to underline the potential of electric engines perhaps it should be noted that a few days ago on the Salt Flats at Bonneville, a team of engineers from Ohio State University, funded by France’s Venturi car company, set a new world speed record with a car called “The Buckeye Bullet”, with a two way average speed of 307.66mph and a top speed of 320mph.
Those with long memories will remember a time when Venturi was involved in Formula 1, with the long defunct Larrousse team. That was back in 1991 when Larrousse sold the majority of the shares in his team to Automobiles Venturi and Bertrand Gachot and Ukyo Katayama were allowed to do their thing with Lamborghini-engined cars. In the end Venturi sold out to a strange German called Rainer Walldorf, who is my favourite F1 team owner of all time. I met him once and I took an instant dislike to him because he was wider than the M25. This gut reaction proved correct when a few months later he escaped a police raid on his house, using a hand grenade (with the pin pulled out) to convince the French police to let him escape. He was later killed after a nine-hour gun battle with German police.
Anyway, back to Venturi. The founders of the company Claude Poiraud and Gerard Godfroy sold out in 2001 and the business was taken over by a wealthy Monaco-born businessman called Gildo Pastor Pallanca,who had a fortune thanks to the family real estate business in Monte Carlo. His goal was to build electric cars that were environmentally-friendly and not dull. It has taken a long time but things are beginning to come right. This summer Géraldine Gabin and Xavier Chevrin, completed a Shanghai-Paris trip using a Citroën Berlingo, powered by Venturi (below)…
…and now we have a world speed record… Formula 1 is intending to have a new engine formula in 2013 and one can only hope that those involved are wise enough to realise that the sport will do well if it embraces hybrid technologies.
The Buckeye Bullet (below) blitzed the previous record of 245.5mph, which was set back in 1999. Driver Roger Schroer was at the wheel of a rehashed 2009 car, which was using the very latest battery technology from A123 Systems of Watertown, Massachusetts. The team is now considering a new body and even four wheel drive to improve the speed. Sponsor Venturi is hoping that its involvement will boost sales of its two-seat, € 300,000, called the Fetish, which has been on the market since 2002. And just to show that racing improves the breed… the technical director of the Fetish project was none other than Gerard Ducarouge, a Formula 1 designer of much repute in the 1980s.
Say it ain’t so Joe. Now you (of all people) are jumping on the hybrid/electric bandwagon. I say the longer we can keep this crap out of F1 the better. There is plenty of fossil fuel to go around until I am dead, buried, and becoming part of an oil reserve of the future. You are right, I want to hear the “banshee” wail of real race cars for as long as humanly possible. It’s bad enough that LeMans has gone all green and diesel on us. Please God, don’t wish the same or worse fate on F1.
Lon,
A rather selfish view, I feel. “There is plenty of fossil fuel around until I am dead”. What about the next generation? Do we not have a responsibility to make the world as good a place as possible for them as well?
In the old days would you also have been more keen on the thunder of galloping horses, rather than the popping and banging mechanical beasts, known as automobiles?
I agree with you Joe. The gasoline engine is so old tech, it’s not modern and for me it’s a waste of huge amount of cash developing this old design. In the case of F1, the teams over their engine development period will spent probably a billion on ancient technology.
KERS and all new modern age technologies should be the way to go if F1 racing wants to keep its’ image as cutting-edge technology breeder. F1 should be the leading wave, it shouldn’t answer the trends set by others!
Embracing such technologies will be attractive to the many IT companies who are becoming more important in the global automotive market to become active in racing.
In general the atmosphere, attitude and way of working in the IT companies is a whole lot more innovative than the slow moving automotive business. They possess more of the innovative approach I’ve read about in the days of Colin Chapman, not like the current F1 – terribly obsessed by every little detail.
Do you remember the joke from 90′s with Bill Gates and GM?
Well, now computers crash only if you push them & GM went bankrupt!
I think electric vehicles will certainly find their place in the market. One tends to think of electric vehicles as a bit stodgy but I had an opportunity to drive a Tesla Sport recently and it certainly was a thrill! It has a published time of 0 -60 mph ( 0-100 kph) in 3.7 seconds. Certainly on par with most supercars out there.
I’m sure that they could easliy dice for 100 miles or so on any given racetrack.
Good ol’ Gerard Larousse sure knew how to pick’em!
(e.g. Didier Calmels and Rainer Walldorf)
Great story Joe. I think the potential for electric vehicles is vastly under-estimated. Enthusiasts have been performing their own electric conversions for some time. Formula Zero is a racing series using a kart chassis and hydrogen fuel cells to provide electric power. Their last race was in August in The Hague. Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has a 1967 Camaro converted to run on electric power. It doesn’t need oil, petrol or coolant. It might surprise some that it does burnouts. The great thing about electric engines is that you get a flat power curve so consistent power is provided across the rev range. Ginetta has an electric version of their G50 road car which they claim is capable of over 200km/h and can do over 400km on a full charge. Now, if only I could find somebody to perform a conversion on my Mondeo!
This year, Formula Student UK and Formula Student Germany featured electric versions of their student racing series, with FSG premiering night time running (only permitted by Hockenheim thanks to noiseless racing cars).
Under floodlight and utterly noiseless apart for some chain whine, the experience is peculiar to say the least, but in the end, backed up with the teams favourite tracks as a musical background it made for some unique racing.
Although seeing an electric car creep to an excruciatingly slow halt because the batteries are draining might be dramatic it is not really exciting to watch, so that is an issue with E-racing.
In the end, the consensus was that the absolute lack of noise reduced the level of entertainment somewhat as your attention gets drawn away from the racing when the cars don’t remind you that they are pushing.
Still, definitely worth a check on http://www.formulastudent.de
G
Ducarouge ? Wasn’t he the one who brought respectability back to Lotus after the 93t ?
I used to race electric R/C cars and i can say they are tons more fun to watch zipping around than the ICE ones. and i can imagine if you explode them 10 times (they were 1/10 scale) the fun would be 10 times better, even 100 times better since you’ll be sitting inside…
there’s something about the whine of an electric motor and the sound of tires screeching as they take the turns….yeah even on a 1/10 you can hear the tires screeching as they take flat out turns…
One of the greatest aural experiences in the world must be the start of an F1 race in the flesh. Even just one engine is enough to send shivers down my spine.
I have only been to 1 F1 race (Melbourne 2008) but one of my enduring memories was hearing a BMW Sauber approaching turn 9 on a speed comparison test. This was the firt time I had seen or heard an F1 car, just after coming in through the gates. First there was an MSport BMW Coupe, followed by a V8 Supercar. Both were quite impressive. Then came the wail from a distance, well before I could see anything. Suddenly it was in view, then braking waaay later than either car before, complete with a whole lot of bangs and pops as it downshifted – something that is missed with the tv audio. Then it was off as fast as it arrived, leaving me with a grin that didn’t wear off for the rest of the weekend.
Joe – excellent reply above! Good post too. I intend to post something myself one day on electric cars and noise in a national context. A few more wise old heads would do well to pick up on the huge potential benefits to F1 and motorsport generally in some of the things you are saying about clean technologies.
Nice story. But I want to hear more about Walldorf! Love you historic research and knowledge.
I live in Copenhagen, which is a cycle and public transport city. But I’d love a cheap electric car just to zip around a little and I hope F1 improves the breed like it has for modern car technology so far.
From The London Evening Standard yesterday:
The Mall is to host a rally of the world’s most innovative electric vehicles complete with pit stops and stunts — but only once the Changing of the Guard is over.
Racing supercars, town runabouts, scooters and bikes will be driven down the avenue to Buckingham Palace by stars such as Jodie Kidd, Dame Ellen MacArthur, James Caan of Dragon’s Den and outgoing Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose.
Musicians and performers will also entertain the crowds expected to line the road during the day-long parade on Sunday September 12.
It will be the first time so many electric cars have been on exhibition in London.
The Eco Car Challenge is being supported by Prince Charles’s environmental charity initiative Start and is being organised by Roger Saul, the creator and former chairman of British fashion brand Mulberry. …
Mr Saul said: “It is going to be an amazing event. A Tesla supercar which has just finished a round-the-world trip will return to London especially for the event and we’re going to set up pit stops and have bikes performing stunts.
“The parade will run for the whole day, starting from as soon as the Changing of the Guard is complete.”
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If, as you believe, KERS is good because it develops new technology, can it be used without the “push to pass” feature, which to me is too artificial for real racing. (see Kimi and Fishichella at Spa) ?
Though if Vettel had had it last Sunday, maybe he wouldn’t have t-boned Button…
Joe, yes, agreed on every level, but batteries still need to become more efficient as do sola panels and their cost.
This might be an answer? Look forward to your comments…
http://www.autodealer.co.za/node/2f67efdbf95bebcb84208b4130b0c5b4/
Hello Joe,
Darn, every single comment here is about racing and fuel and hybrid and all I want to say is WOW what a great story you tuned down to a side note Joe. This Rainer Walldorf and you Joe actually came into contact – bloody hell, all I could find out about this charecter was a meager two-liner in wiki and I live in Germany. How on earth do these people get into F1 – undiscovered?
Anyway, back on topic – I was watching Star Wars Return of the Jedhi the other day and was again flabberghasted hearing the sound of those jet-bikes racing through the woods. I love the sound and I would venture to guess that any other F1 enthusiast would love it too so bring on the hybrids and then bring on new age electric racers. Sound wont be a problem even if it means we will have to beg Georgie to licence his sound files to Bernie. Oh, yeah Bernie will still be around
Perhaps Joe can introduce a new tag to his blog to enlighten us on some of the many characters who have made it into F1 as owners, sponsors, etc.
I nominate for the first entry, ‘Globalot,’ or at least I think that’s what it was called. I recalled seeing it on the Jordan cockpit sides in late 1993, and I know there’s an interesting story behind it!
There’s a recent theory that oil is not from fossils. No idea if it’s actually true but apparently they are finding oil in previously empty wells.
I like the idea of these races anyway.
“I am reliably informed that it will not be long before we see the first serious electric open-wheeler formula in Europe”
Interesting. Do you have any feel for the timescale on such a development, Joe? Not asking for a definitive date, of course, who can really know for sure, but roughly…2 years? 5 years? In-between, or more?
Can I just point out that electric cars are quieter in cities when the lower wind resistance creates a much smaller noise than on the open road. Run a modern 2 litre diesel car and an electric equivalent on any B-road and the wind noise and road-tyre noise is the same…
I hate the thought of electric motors in F1. Apart from anything else changing petrol engines to electric in F1 would make no difference whatever to the carbon foot print of F1. Far more could be achieved by banning wind tunnels but that would achieve something rather than looking like something was being achieved.
Putting electric motors in the cars without other major changes is like painting green stripes on tyres that last a few laps.
Maybe Max will win in the end and we will be rid of the noise that drowns out the commentator. Horrible thought
Good story, but the picture is wrong. This is not this year car Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2.5 which set EV Land Speed record but older Buckeye Bullet 2, which broke the Land Speed record for hydrogen powered vehicles in the year 2009.
Great article Joe. There are many reasons to at least explore options other than the internal combustion engine (ICE). It is so much more than just reducing the carbon footprint. There are MORE former oil producing countries than presently producing it is a resource running out fast. Economic production of fossil fuel is unlikely to extend beyond the next 35 years. Of rather more concern is that production is occurring under ever increasingly difficult conditions and with increasing ecological impacts. BP’s operation in the USA in terms of violations and received fines makes it the worse company in terms of operational health, safety and environmental concerns. The world economies have to wean themselves off the use of fossil fuels. It is an opportunity for new technologies to be explored and why should we deny motor racing this opportunity. Motor sport generally has introduced many technologies that have made motoring safer and more efficient.
Back to the electric motor, it is extremely compact in terms of physical size, efficiency in conversation of stored energy to motion and longevity. Battery efficiency is increasing so that in 5 years they will become a fully viable option to the ICE. Introduction of future Lithium Sulphur batteries could see them providing the same performance packed into a third of the mass of current batteries. Finally batteries can be recycled it is dependent on economies of sales and providing the right incentives.
there is no reason why we cannot or do not have the technology to get off the gas … hell look at the new porshce hybrid
Interesting about Rainer Walldorf and the Comstock crew. I worked with them planning the sale of the team (Larousse) via public offering. Although I was not in the office (in Cannes) on that afternoon, French police raided the place and had everyone face down on the floor. Rainer (real name Klaus Woltz) and his supposed son in law Patrick, in actual fact his little brother, had already fled. Patrick was never found I believe, but Dear Rainer turned out to be involved in the Pizza Connection, the narcotics route between America and Latin Europe. Nice guy, 4 dead men buried under his garden in Portugal!! They claimed to be involved in nuclear waste disposal at the time, and were running the most blatant financial con. If anyone wants to know more, tell me.
Mystery Man
I’d love to hear more
Hi joesaward
Well, I met Waldorf / Walz through an individual called Barry Mason. He was running an investment fund which turned out to be a complete con (as most things in the South of France) called Onyx Trading. He claimed to have been the owner of the Onyx Formula 1 team in the past, and to have fallen foul of Van Rossem. I think he simply picked the name and ran with the story. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were introduced to Rainer Waldorf (Klaus Walz), his son in Law Patrick Sorejewski (who was actually his younger brother) and Gerard Larousse, all at the Comstock Offices in Cannes. Rainer was sporting a shirt that would not have looked out of place on Hawaii Five O, and, yes, the white socks. He used to swan around in a Corniche convertible, while Patrick drove a V12 7 series and a baby blue NSX. The interesting thing is that the brochure that Comstock put out, featuring “Comstock Properties” was a load of B/S. They displayed properties which I knew belonged to friends of mine….they claimed to own the Cannes Honda dealership etc. Anyway, the story in the local press was that after Rainer and his little grenade went walkabout with the hostage policeman, and when he was surrounded in Germany, he actually shot himself so as not to be taken alive and back to jail. Patrick fled across the border and to the best of my knowledge was never seen again. Rainer had clubbed a bloke to death with a car jack, and they dug up 2 bodies which had been executed mafia style, hands wired behind their backs and a bullet hole in the head. In fact, Waldorf / Walz was from Etlingen in germany. I understand he was a school teacher, who set up a luxury car rental company there, and that failed but he legged it with investors money and it all started there. how he got into the Pizza Connection is still a mystery. Enjoy the bedtime reading.
Mystery,
I have heard most of the stories you mentioned and even met the man himself. My primary impression was “white socks”…
Well, who doesn’t like racing or fuel?
The mystery man has to be either
Guy Dehavilland
or
Per du Hane
Only two people that could know so much about it, and Barry Mason who was involved in raising money for the F1 team. Most schemes in those days for F1 finance were just black holes.
White socks and a calculator as a pooltable !