Formula 1 could adopt ethanol to go with hybrid drive
Formula 1 teams are already preparing to introduce hybrid drive systems to cars beginning in 2009 and that could soon be followed by a change in fuels. Since the mid-nineties teams have been required to use fuels that were roughly comparable to pump gasoline with a maximum octane rating of 102 RON (about 97 octane for U.S. pump measurements). Formula may soon follow the path of IndyCars and the American Le Mans Series and migrate to biofuels, specifically ethanol. According to retired two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Formula 1 management boss Bernie Eccelstone met last year with ethanol suppliers in Brazil. Brazilian Fittipaldi has a sugar cane plantation in his home country and is currently building an ethanol refinery to produce fuel.
All cars in the IndyCar series run on E100 ethanol. In the ALMS several teams including the GT1 Corvette C6Rs are now running cellulosic E85. The Audi R10s run on GTL diesel fuel while the rest of the field is fueled by E10.
[Source: F1-Live]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 9:59PM (6/08/2008)
Formula1 could experience a leap in public interest and become EXTREMELY useful to the automakers as a technology testbed if...
... it switched to being an EV race
The real wind of change with cars is EVs, not hybrids.
The Renault Megane, the Pininfarina EV, the Mitsubishi Miev, the Th!ink and Tesla etc are the real change we're facing, not hybrids.....
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steven 10:36AM (6/09/2008)
Isn't that going to take the fun outta pit stops? that and the battery packs are going to weigh more that the cars do now (~1320 pounds).
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James Bowe 11:16AM (6/09/2008)
I never thought of that before. Maybe someday in the not-too-distant future battery packs weighing in around the same as a full fuel tank can go far enough to last between pit stops. Then they can swap 'em out in the pits, project better place style. That would be pretty cool.
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Phil L. 1:42PM (6/09/2008)
An attempt at something close to EV racing is already in the works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_Electric_Racing_Federation
I'll ignore the inevitable discussion about whether hydrogen fuel makes sense or not - and concentrate on the potential of a racing league based on electrical drivetrain components.
If they can create an interesting, relevant series that helps build publicity and develop component technology, it could be a winner - no matter what electrical fuel carrier is used.
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steven 4:45PM (6/09/2008)
@3: The funny thing is there is no rule limiting the size of a fuel cell in F1 at this time. You can make it as big as you want as long as it stays with the confines of the front face of the engine and no more than 300mm forward of the highest point at which the driver's back makes contact with his seat and no more than 400mm from the longitudinal access of the car. Of course there are width, length and height limitations for mthe car, so you get to see it is really just a math problem along with an aerodynamic exercise as well as trying to say within the weight limits. The size is really based on made by how much weight you are willing to carry vs. the time you gain or lose carrying all that extra fuel, along with about 2 million other factors.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 6:45AM (6/10/2008)
besides being a testbed for component devlopment, an EV F1 would also be a real eye-opener for the general public. i'm pretty sure that most people aren't aware that a "normal" car like the Tesla will go from 0-100 km/h in less than 4 seconds or, for that matter, the top speeds reached by the World Solar Challenge vehicles running on solar. even the recharging (obvioulsy not to 100%) could be done in a matter of minutes and the competition would supposedly spurn development there too.....
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