FIA President Jean Todt Quashes Chances of Electric F1 Cars in the Future

The 2014 season was indeed the dawn of what has been an amazing and rather successful era for F1. Of course, we did surrender some special aspects, including re-fueling and the fiery roar of the V8 engines, which initially faced a significant amount of backlashes.

But, over time, fans have moved on. And we’ve now arrived at the point where F1 is seeking ways to maximize the potential of hybrid engines. In addition to that, there is the aspect of fuel, which could be manufactured out of bio-waste.

Hence, with F1 always hunting for ways to bring the sport’s carbon footprint to nil, one might ask, why can’t F1 opt to go with electricity rather than fuel? Well, before rushing to such questions, let’s ask ourselves, are F1 cars capable of running on electricity?

Jean Todt, president of FIA, doesn’t think so. The Frenchman made it clear enough that it is pretty much impossible to run an F1 car on electricity with the help of the current technology.

Why can’t F1 cars run on electricity?

The 75-year-old Frenchman reckoned that with the racing distance Formula 1 cars are seeking to cover, running on electricity would mean that F1 will be obligated to bring back recharging. And to top it all, there is the very possible drop in performance.

“It’s simply not possible,” Todt said according to BBC. “In Formula One, a race distance is about 200 miles (305km). Without recharging, with the performance of the cars, electricity will not allow that.

“Maybe in 20 years, 30 years, I don’t know. But at the moment it would be simply impossible,” he concluded.

But, is it necessary for F1 to switch onto the ‘electric’ path? Definitely not. There is already a Formula series in place that produces racing using electric cars – Formula-E. Hence, it would be absolutely pointless for F1 to go all-electric, which could well destroy the heritage of what is called the pinnacle of motorsport.

And, of course, there’s also the completely muffled sound of the cars. There is no denying that a lot of fans are still not over the end of the V10 and V8 era. Hence, imagine the level of hatred the Formula 1 management would fall under if they scrape off the fuel-based engines and instead bring in electric engines.

Well, Todt has kept it crisp and clean by tearing apart any kind of speculations over Formula 1 switching to all-electric. However, the environmental impact is, of course, a valid point that needs serious consideration and all measures must be taken to reduce the negative impact as much as possible.

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