[ad_1]
Gearing up for its seventh season competing in the all-electric Formula E racing championship, German automaker Audi has revealed its new spec race automotive, the appropriately named Audi E-Tron FE07, which is able to compete beneath the flag of Audi Sport ABT Shaeffler.
Many components of the FE07’s design are dictated by the International Automobile Federation and Formula E guidelines. The spec carbon-fiber chassis with spec carbon-fiber bodywork, the bespoke 18-inch Michelin highway tires, even the 52 kWh McLaren Applied Technologies lithium-ion battery are all shared by each automotive on the Formula E grid. But there’s greater than brightly coloured livery separating these vehicles. Teams are allowed to develop their very own electric powertrain tech (inside spec, after all), energy administration and regenerative braking software program to give their drivers an edge.
Power from the battery flows via a customized inverter to the brand new MGU05 six-phase AC motor-generator, which Audi Sport developed fully in-house. Output is regulated to 250 kW (about 335 horsepower) however may be boosted to 285 kW (round 382 horsepower) for a restricted “Attack Mode.” The carbon-fiber-housed motor spins at round 20,000 peak RPM, however a single-speed discount gearbox mated to carbon-fiber driveshafts on the rear axle brings that down to extra manageable highway speeds.
The MGU05 and its inverter collectively weigh a scant 35 kilograms (about 77 kilos), however present sufficient thrust to launch the 903 kilograms (about 1,991 kilos together with the driving force) FE07 from zero-to-100 km/h (62 mph) in simply 2.eight seconds with a high velocity round 149 mph. Audi claims above 97-percent vitality effectivity from MGU05 — greater than double that of one of the best inside combustion engines — or round 95-percent powertrain effectivity, together with the gearbox. Built across the limitations of present battery expertise, nonetheless, Formula E’s principal occasion E-Prix races solely final a livid 45 minutes.
Tucked into its 18-inch aluminum wheels are hydraulic brakes with carbon-fiber discs, however maybe a extra vital little bit of braking {hardware} is the MGU05 motor-generator itself. Working in live performance with friction brakes, the FE07’s brake-by-wire system is ready to make use of sturdy rear-axle regenerative braking to recapture as a lot vitality as attainable throughout coasting and deceleration to enhance vary.
Allan McNish, former Formula 1 driver and present Team Principal of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, defined how regenerative braking and energy administration play an enormous position in serving to the driving force get absolutely the most efficiency out of the battery’s capability and might make the distinction between a decisive victory and working out of juice simply wanting the checkered flag.
“You’ve got a maximum, by regulation, 52 kilowatt-hours of energy at the start — that’s what everybody has — and you want to make that zero at the end,” mentioned McNish. “You want to go as fast as possible in between, but if you just go flat out and don’t recuperate energy, you won’t make it; there’s no way, the car will stop. Therefore, we need to try to recuperate energy exactly as when we’re driving the E-Tron with its paddles, brakes or lift-off — exactly as we do on the road. However [with the E-Tron FE07], we’re trying to do it in extreme ways.”
Simulation and software program tuning additional hone the fundamental regen expertise, permitting the staff to fine-tune the automotive’s energy administration software program to a selected course, figuring out when to speed up and when to brake with regen or friction. There’s additionally a shocking quantity of consideration paid to lifting and coasting. Of course, it comes down to the human driver to execute on the plan, however McNish defined how this simulation permits the FE07 to dramatically enhance its effectivity on the Formula E Mexico City circuit.
“I would say in Mexico, for example, we have about 40% of energy coming back into the battery,” mentioned McNish. “We’ve got a 52 kWh battery and we’ll be putting about 21 kilowatts back in there. Historically, that would have been lost energy, but now we’re able to harness it and use it for our range. So, we effectively have a range extender by what we are recuperating back into the battery.”
The stakes are larger than ever with the 2021 Formula E season being held as an official FIA World Championship for the primary time ever. Audi Sport additionally sees the sequence as an opportunity to showcase its applied sciences, lots of which have already made their method into the roadgoing E-Tron line of electric autos — together with the E-Tron SUV and E-Tron Sportback, in addition to the upcoming Audi RS E-Tron GT and This autumn E-Tron.
Will its expertise and software program know-how lead the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team and Audi Formula E manufacturing facility driver Lucas di Grassi to victory? We’ll be maintaining a tally of the end line throughout its debut race this weekend in Valencia, Spain on Nov. 28.
(This story has not been edited by Newslivenation employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)