Audi driver forecasts the future for Formula E

Lucas di Grassi expects that the next generation of Formula E could introduce changes that would favour the German prestige brand, well known for its quattro all-wheel drive systems and now also for torque vectoring in electric vehicles.

“There are three key development points which I think are going to be making a big difference for racing electric cars for the future,” the Audi driver told media during an online presentation this week.

“The first is four-wheel drive. Electric cars are built, essentially, for four-wheel drive, because… you can recuperate and accelerate from the four wheels, instead of wasting energy from the front hydraulic brakes. So this will be the next step for let's say the next generation of Formula E.

“Then you can split motors; instead of having one motor per axle, you can have two, and then you can have electronic torque vectoring, which is the next step in traction control. You can help the car to turn, you can help the car to decelerate and accelerate in a much more effective way.

“And then the battery… the battery is a world-wide problem that needs to be solved: Energy storage. And the battery of Formula E is around 300 kilos, so it's extremely heavy. It's let's say 10 times the weight of the motor and the inverter, so imagine you could shrink that size ten-fold and having a 50kg battery. In the future, and maybe with graphene batteries or other technologies, that would make the car much faster and much more agile, or with a longer range.”

“I see the future with these three key technologies needed to be pushed in Formula E to have the series helping us to develop the sports cars and [commercially available road cars] of the future.”

In recent years a lot of research has been published concerning the viability of graphene batteries, but the new lightweight battery technology is not yet a done deal for automotive applications. If the weight saving di Grassi suggests is possible, it would reduce the weight of a race car like the new Audi FE07 by as much as 20 per cent or more.

Audi and other brands like Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and not least of all Tesla already sell road cars with all-wheel drive and an electric motor for each axle, but to date, only Audi is planning to bring a car with two motors driving one axle to market – that car being the three-motor e-tron S. This vehicle features two electric motors for the rear axle, in lieu of a conventional differential.

If di Grassi’s hopes are realised, the added weight of all-wheel drive in Formula E race cars would be more than offset by a significantly lighter battery pack. The Audi driver, who mentioned during the same session that he loves technology, is also a United Nations ambassador for clean air. For the 2021 season of Formula E, di Grassi will be driving Audi’s promising new e-tron FE07 race car.