So then, whats your opinion on this then?

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2829 ... mpionship/

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Good! We need better economic engines for the masses that simply see a car as an item that goes from place a to b, and being part of the Formula series will vastly increase R&D.

As long as the engines sound awesome, I am all for eco and enviromentally friendly F cars in general

Tech is moving forward and you don't need large capacity, cylinder-heavy engines to make power or sound nice. Granted nothing does sound like a v8 or higher though.

I think it's great. I'm all for pushing the boundaries and saving the enviroment in any which way possible. I'm not a keen F1 fan though, so not sure if people will enjoy the lack of pit stops that may be part of it all.

Did you see the item on the news the other day about the new rubber they need to design due to these new engines producing WAYYYYY more torque than what they are used to? This was more the hydro-based engines but it's all along the same path.

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Rest in peace Ben "Jam" Elvin. Gone but never forgotten.

I think in many ways it's a good thing, it will make things more interesting too. They do say that F1 is the number 1 source for new technology to be tested, then the majority of that goes onto road cars, so this could spark a whole new era in automotive technology.

I didn't see that, I'll have to have a look for it. You can just imagine it - the electric motor releasing all say 800bhp in a split second because with an electric motor the torque is instantanious.. wheel spin!

To think that electric powered cars could actually be faster than modern day f1 cars is mental, but awesome at the same time!

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Was going to say electric cars actually kick arse with instant torque, electric could make formula 1 faster!

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Electric isn't going to be the power source of the future though, electric will die off once hydrogen based power is more stable and manageable. Electric cars are just an interim thing to keep the eco people happy. As it stands, electric cars really aren't very good are they. Me and the lad I work with were doing all the sums for owning an electric car, and despite the fact that it's not that much cheaper to run, the practicality of it just doesn't work. If you live on a street with no off road parking, how are you going to plug it in overnight without the risk of some chav chopping the wire.

Anyways, I digress, in relation to F1, it'll be a while before they go totally electric, if at all. This whole Formula E is again, something to keep the eco nuts happy. Obviously, putting it into a motorsport series will help speed up the development of the tech for such cars, but it's not like they've agreed to put it into F1, it's a side series. I'm a massive F1 fan, and I'm already disappointed about the engine changes for 2014, but this is the way things must go.

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Quote Ry, Mallory Park, 3rd Dec: "Ahhhh crap... Just a bit too over eager really!"
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The IOM TT has an electric class, i think its been going 2 or 3 years. the first year no one wanted to touch it with a barge pole, but the popularity has grown since they started giving financial incentives and there has been some R&D time put into it. okay they're not as fast as the 'proper' bikes but lapping the island at a shade over 100mph average isnt hanging about either. whilst electric power is a stopgap. as a technical exercise to see what advances can be made its interesting, but the reality is rather more flawed.