BMW tries to explain what went wrong with KERS in testing

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Aug 22nd 2008 at 1:09PM

Apparently, the problems that BMW Sauber had with its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) are completely correctable. The racing team also believes that its mechanics and drivers were never in any real danger despite the high voltage system carried by the Formula 1 car. It seems that there was some sort of discharge due to a faulty controller. Whoops! The mechanic was thrown to the ground after touching both the carbon chassis and steering wheel of the race car. Why then, you may wonder, was the driver not harmed? BMW believes that Christian Klien was protected by his racing suit and gloves.

The problem was difficult to trace due to the controller's sporadic failure... sometimes it worked, sometimes, well, not so much. Fortunately, the lengthy period BMW spent searching for the problem will result in a much safer system and the team plans to begin testing again in the autumn. For the 2009 season, the entire roster will be racing with the KERS hybrid systems installed.

[Source: F1-Live]

Filed under: Hybrid, BMW

Tags: bmw, bmw sauber, bmw sauber f1, bmw sauber f1 team, bmw-sauber, BmwSauber, BmwSauberF1, BmwSauberF1Team, kers, kinetic energy, kinetic energy recov..., kinetic energy recovery system, KineticEnergy, kineticenergyrecov..., KineticEnergyRecoverySystem

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

tankd0g 4:08PM (8/22/2008)

So they are still not saying this was a simple static charge buildup? Carbon fiber is an insulator last I checked.

↓↑report

John 4:35PM (10/13/2008)

Carbon fiber is not an insulator - carbon in general is a conductor. Although the resin is usually an insulator, the fibres conduct - although they have high resistance. Care must be taken for example, when welding steel attached to carbon fiber parts, to make sure the current path is not forced through the carbon panel - or it will get burned - learned the hard way.

↓↑report

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