Car Races are fascinating, especially when the cars competing can reach velocities of over 300 kilometers per hour. That is why so many people love Formula races. The most crucial race circuit is Formula 1, which I am sure most of you have heard of. This competition is well known and established, but experts say the whole industry of races is about to change, and the fact is, sometimes revolution is quiet. In 2014 another race circuit was created. The course is called Formula E, and it’s an all-electric racing circuit that wants to capture the excitement around one of the most successful sports in the world.
Formula E presented at its time a very ambitious plan based on a couple of facts. First, the world is quickly accelerating toward a greener future, looking to stop the devastating effects of climate change. Electric cars certainly play a vital role in this plan. Then, we have incredibly talented engineers and automakers eager for new technologies. Finally, we have customers for electric cars, who make, of course, finicky fans.
Surely these fans must be thrilled to keep watching faster; louder cars speed through the world’s greatest cities. The fact is that sports have a lot of power. To see this, we could just look at the 25 most-watched television programs ever, of which 24 were sports events. Furthermore, Sports touch the heart, the mind, and the souls of their fans. This makes sports capable of impacting the world, and the popularity Formula E is reaching could be a part of one of the most important revolutions in our lifetime.
Something similar happened with Formula 1 at the time, where the sport quickly attracted
both drivers willing to travel the world to race and a considerable fan base hoping to witness the show. It also attracted significant automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati to showcase their latest and most excellent motor tech. Formula 1 would also bring Technology innovations, such as active suspension and carbon brakes. Then F1 created legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher.
As I mentioned, Formula E is part of an accelerating movement toward sustainability that has urgently risen in the past several years. Something we see worldwide, with a new generation speaking out loudly about the climate crisis. As the CEO of Formula E says, “Formula E is much more than a race that is putting cars on track; Formula E is a platform to showcase a sustainable lifestyle that we will be finding extraordinary,
fascinating. Julia Pallé, head of sustainability for Formula E, also has emphasized the need to live up to what Formula E represents, helping solve a global crisis. Thanks to their efforts. Since its creation, Formula E has been the first sport globally to achieve net-zero carbon, avoid plastic on-site, offer vegetarian options to our fans, and use fewer planes.
The impact of Formula E has already started to appear across the globe. Recently, big companies, some of which directly work with fossil fuels, are moving toward being more sustainable. For example, Ford has pledged to invest $30 billion in electric vehicles by 2025, having just spent $11 billion this past September on electric trucks and battery plants. Another example is Volkswagen, a company that plans to invest $83 billion in the next four years. The car companies very much have a vested interest in using the technologies of Formula E, and its teams are collectively developing their cars.
Formula E is part of a broader portfolio of electrifying sports for those who handle it. Extreme E, an off-road racing series with electric vehicles, and the Racebird, an electric-powered boat racing in the E One world championship, are just a few examples of how Formula E is revolutionizing sports. Once again, as the CEO says, “you have to move to electric mobility, electric propulsion in every space, you have to move on the cars, move on the roads, move on the sea, and move on everywhere.”
Formula One will lose its industry since combustion cars will practically stop being produced in Europe by 2030. There Formula One and Formula E will sort of merge in the most significant car competition in the world. In the meantime, Formula E, together with all the other sustainability changes in different sports, will continue to impact the world slowly as people realize it is the way to go.
