Formula E announces cars to be solar powered at LowCVP Conference
Sat 27 June 2015
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Speaking at a press conference organised by the LowCVP prior to the recent Annual Conference, Alejandro Agag Formula E's Chief Executive announced that the electric car racing series will be the first in the world to use cars regularly charged by solar power.
Agag said that the safety and medical cars will be powered by batteries in the pit lane, which will be linked to a “mini solar farm” consisting of 26 solar panels, which will also be used to power the race’s TV screens, ticket scanners and mobile phone recharging stations.
Agag told The Guardian that there would need to be further developments in energy storage before all the cars could be powered in this way. The 10 two-car teams currently change vehicles rather than batteries, in a single pit stop.
Agag (reported in The Guardian) said: “The problem with solar is the rhythm at which the energy is generated or the amount of panels you need at any given moment. To charge all the racing cars, we would have to cover the whole park with solar panels.
“But this weekend we want to showcase that it is possible. Now what you need is to be able to store the energy because if you can store the energy for a day you have enough energy to charge the cars.”
Speaking at the same press conference, AA President Edmund King revealed the results of a new Populus survey, especially commissioned to coincide with the LowCVP Conference designed to reveal the attitudes of over 18,000 'mainstream motorists' towards electric vehicles. (See related story.)
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