Although manufacturers slowly are beginning to introduce electric vehicles that are comparable to their gasoline-powered rivals, internal combustion engines still dominate the automotive industry. But based on a new video from Formula E, it might not be as long as you think before EVs really take the fight to cars using traditional powertrains.
When FE kicked off its inaugural season in 2014-15, every team fielded identical Spark-Renault SRT_01E single-seaters, which used the best components available at the time. From Season 2 onward, however, teams were allowed to develop certain parts of the cars, as the series’ goal is to accelerate the evolution of EV tech.
Following Sunday’s Monaco ePrix, FE posted a side-by-side comparison of on-board footage showing Renault e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi completing hot laps around the 1.097-mile circuit during Season 1 and Season 3. By Turn 1, it’s already clear Buemi’s lap from 2017 is much quicker, but by the end of the lap, the gap between the two is simply jaw-dropping.
FE didn’t show Buemi’s lap time in the video, but his fastest lap of the race Sunday was a 0:54.978, compared to 0:56.100 in Season 1. Renault made its car just over a second quicker per mile in just two years, which, for perspective, means it would be roughly 13 seconds per lap faster around the Nurburgring.
That rate of evolution truly is remarkable, and suggests it might not be long before cars such as Renault’s FE-inspired hot hatch concept are roaming the streets.
