Do Robots Dream of Electric Racecars?

 This lockdown has been hard on all of us. We've all changed in the months since the virus forced all of us to go to ground and wait for all of this to blow over. Me? I got really interested in Formula E, which is peculiar for a guy who is passionate about fast cars and loud engines. My quest to satisfy my curiosity for this electric racing series led me to VRC Modding Team, who sell the Formula Lithium 2019 for $4.50. It's essentially the current Formula E car with the serial numbers filed-off and generic liveries that sort-of resemble the actual teams, but not to the extent of getting them in trouble.

So how does an electric open-wheeler drive? It's certainly... interesting. This car doesn't produce much downforce, so lift-off oversteer is definitely a thing in high-speed corners, and the brakes lock up VERY easily. Also, the instant torque on offer means you have to be very patient with the go-pedal. On the upside, there's no special procedure to start moving; just press the pedal and you're off.

These cars work best on tight street circuits, which is exactly the type of circuit that Formula E races on. After all, what better way to promote low-emission, low-noise racing? These tracks are VERY tight, the kind of track that would also be suited to small hot hatchbacks or go-karts. Combined with the energy management, Fanboost and Attack Mode that have also become key parts of Formula E, it's a challenge that's quite unlike anything else in the motorsport world.

Is Formula E for everyone? Of course not. There will always be those who cave high speeds, wide-open straights and sweeping curves, set to the soundtrack of highly-tuned racing engines (and I'm one of them). Formula E doesn't really provide any of what I just described, but what it does provide is the kind of motorsport we may need to attract a new, always-connected and environmentally-conscious generation of fans. And more people sharing our passion for motorsport can only be a good thing, right?

P.S. I can confirm that I did not hire someone else to drive the car for me while I was taking these photos.

If you are interested in purchasing the car, you can do so from VRC Modding for $4.50.

As mentioned before, this car has a generic name and liveries to avoid copyright, so if you want authentic team liveries, you can pick them up from RaceDepartment. This site offers liveries for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team, BMW i Andretti Motorsport, DS Techeetah, Envision Virgin Racing, GEOX Dragon, HWA Racelab, Mahindra Racing, Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team, NIO Formula E Team, Nissan e.dams, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and Venturi Formula E Team. As always, you will need a RaceDepartment account to download these.

As for the tracks, most of them can be found on RaceDepartment, while the Monaco GP circuit I use is by Patrikpat and can be downloaded here.