Electric cars are going vroom. Earlier this week, FIA President Jean Todt and Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag revealed the new Spark-Renault SRT_01E fully electric single-seat racecar on the opening day of the International Frankfurt Motor Show. The vehicle represents the future of zero-emission racing, and it could do laps around your typical electric car with a limited max speed of 140 miles per hour.
The Spark-Renault is expected to launch Formula E’s new electric racing series, which should hit the streets a year from now in September 2014. The race car is equipped with a McLaren-sourced 200 kilowatt motor that provides the equivalent of 270 horsepower. All this power combined with a lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum chassis allows the Spark-Renault to go from zero to 62 mph in three seconds.
Although the car packs 440 pounds of weight in batteries, there aren’t any details as to the operational time of a Formula car, and Spark expects that each driver will use two cars during a one-hour race.
Next year, FIA will draft 42 of these cars to 10 teams and 20 drivers competing in a new zero emission – and much quieter – racing series. The first season of the Formula E will be an “open championship” designed to encourage manufacturers to build their own car to help accelerate research and development electric vehicles.
+ Renault
Via Formula 1 Blog and FIA Formula E
Images © FIA Formula E
