NYC to host Formula E Championship finale, race cars to top 180 mph
Formula E car racing will returns to the Big Apple this weekend for the New York City E-Prix season finale.
Twenty-two cars and drivers will hit the streets of Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood in the Formula One-style race and showcase ABB's electric car technology.
“We’re very proud to be the sponsor,” Greg Scheu, ABB's Americas region president, said on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.”
ABB, a Zurich-based technology company, is the global title sponsor of the race.
The group describes itself as a digital industries leader with "four customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation," according to its website.
With the aid of ABB tech, these cars now have the capability of performing at higher speeds with a better range than ordinary race cars.
“On the straightaways, you can be doing 180 miles an hour,” Scheu said. “And, of course, all running off of batteries and charged with ABB fast charging.”
The cars can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just under three seconds, depending on the asphalt and the car's grip strength on the road.
“It feels great as a driver,” 2015-2016 Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi said to FOX Business.
“Technology has improved massively,” he continued. That jump in quality now allows vehicles to run for 45 minutes plus one lap, the equivalent of about 100 kilometers.
As the end of a race approaches, “it's down to the team and the driver to try to extract the most out of the battery,” Buemi highlighted.
Before the 2018-2019 season of the Formula E championship, drivers would change their cars halfway through the race.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
But with new ABB technology, that’s no longer an issue.
The company's new "primo" batteries have enough power to keep cars on the go for an entire race without recharge, making it possible for the electric cars to run longer than fuel-injected vehicles.
"Today in the ABB Championship, it’s a great platform, and we have lots of manufacturers joining," Buemi said. "So, as a professional driver, it’s a great place to be racing at."
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABB | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |