It’s Here: Meet The 200 MPH Gen 3 Formula E Race Car
Described as “a seriously quick and agile racing car” by the only driver to drive it thus far (three-time Le Mans winner Benoit Treluyer), the eagerly anticipated Gen 3 version of the Formula E race car made its debut earlier today in Monaco.
The new racer will be the first to include a new front powertrain adding 250kW to the 350kW powering the car at the rear (600kW, or approx. 800 hp) in the “conventional” rear drive train that manufacturers are– for the first time in Formula E– open to design for themselves … which, really, is the biggest change of all for this season.
For season 9, Formula E teams will be able to develop a much wider range of components for their cars. The formula is still pretty tight, but that’s where the real innovators shine. And, speaking of innovation– there’s a big one at the rear of the new Gen 3 car. Namely, the brakes.
It doesn’t have any.
The new Formula E race cars will not have rear hydraulic brakes. The front MGU– which is being supplied by the Atieva technology company, part of the Lucid Motors group– and the overall regenerative capability of the rear powertrain means they’re not needed. And that is an absolutely wild thing to consider.
Could the first road-going EV without brake discs and pads be very far behind? Hard to say– but that’s what racing does. It pushes the envelope and improves the breed. It can, anyway, and Treluyer believes it will.
“The tactics we have seen in some races will be a thing of the past I think,” Treluyer told The Race after driving the Tata Jaguar team car (shown, below). “You just will not be able to afford these big situations with contact because of the front MGU and also just because the cars are (fully) open wheeled now.”
The Gen3 cars have been designed to have any consumable components recycled and therefore reused. This will include the new Hankook racing tires, which are made from recycled material, and the Williams-developed spec batteries. You can take a look at the new Jaguar Gen Formula E car in its “camo” test livery, below, then let us know what you think of the new cars in the comments.
Jaguar Gen 3 Formula E Race Car
Source: The Race.
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