This article is taken from here.

What’s reputed to be China’s first supercar might look a little bit too much like a McLaren P1from some angles, but the Techrules AT96 and GT96 TREV concepts at the 2016 Geneva motor show are certainly intriguing – if not for their appearance then certainly for their technology.

After all, it’s not every day you get to hear about a 1030bhp Turbine-Recharged Electric Vehicle with six electric motors and a theoretical top speed of 217mph, let alone one that looks like a carbonfibre biplane has crashed into the back.

Sorry – TREV stands for Turbine-Recharged EV? I thought it was going to be some kind of TVR tribute…

Er, no. What we’re dealing with here is one of the most unusual drivetrain concepts since, well, Jaguar had a go at something similar with the original version of its stillborn C-X75 supercar.

There have been various historical attempts to use a jet turbine to power a car (Lotus and BRM spring to mind plus, most recently, the mysterious Project 1221) but they’ve largely stumbled on the turbine’s limited tractability. The Techrules setup differs because it uses a very small ‘micro turbine’ to directly drive a generator that produces the electricity that powers the electric motors that actually turn the road wheels. Phew.

Thus the turbine is able to operate at peak efficiency at all times while the electric motors take care of the flexibility necessary for driving around.

Sounds… complicated.

Well, yes and no. The turbine and the generator share the same shaft, so in that sense it’s quite straight forward – even if the shaft is spinning at over 96,000rpm. All told, the entire mid-mounted powertrain of turbine, inverters, fuel pumps, air pumps and generator weighs just 100kg and is claimed to be so low maintenance that it would potential be sealed for life, with only the air filters needing renewal.

The turbine produces enough juice – 36kW – to drive the generator and power the ancillaries. Combine this with a 20kWh Lithium-Manganese-Oxide battery pack that can be pre-charged in just 40 minutes using a plug, and you’ve got a vehicle that Techrules claims could achieve 1569mpg and a range of over 1200 miles. Right.

Keeping things real (ish), Techrules also states it’ll be more like 59mpg if relying entirely on the TREV system to charge the batteries and power the motors. But even that’s not bad when you consider the theoretical 2.5sec 0-62mph time and 217mph top speed. The range on battery power alone is said to be around 93 miles.

As for having six electric motors, the system uses one for each front wheel and two for each wheel at the rear, where it’s easier to package two smaller motors than one big one.

Is any of this at all feasible?

Feasible? Yes. But we’d still reserve judgment – and any down payment – until we’ve experienced it in action.

The level of technical detail Techrules goes into in order to justify its claims is quite extraordinary – right down to the use of an ‘air bearing’ in place of conventional oil lubricant film in the turbine, and its choice of cylindrical battery cell. It also says it’s concentrating on charging strategies rather than advanced battery construction in order to speed up charging times, which is a clever ploy if successful.

What’s more, Techrules apparently started testing the AT96 concept at Silverstone in February, so the system works to at least some extent. We’re struggling to believe it can really be deploying the claimed 6372lb ft of torque, though – the tyres would surely disintegrate in protest instantaneously.

What’s the difference between the Techrules AT96 and the GT96?

Aside from the distinct difference in design, the AT96 is powered by aviation fuel (and actually running), while the GT96 is powered by gasoline (and appears to be more of a styling concept).

Both are planned around a carbonfibre monocoque, with double wishbone suspension front and rear, a T-shaped battery pack under the floor, and the promise of four-wheel torque vectoring capability. Here’s hoping whoever’s doing the software writes as well as the people behind the press release.

What’s the end game?

Techrules’ plan is to bring a fully functioning TREV supercar with a target weight of under 1000kg (the AT96 weighs 1380kg) to market ‘within a few years’, as a true proof of concept. After that it would look to mass-market the technology by expanding into city cars and superminis.

Who on earth are Techrules, anyway?

Good question. It’s a new automotive research and development company based in Beijing, whose stated aim is to develop disruptive powertrain technologies. It’s a subsidiary of Txr-S, which specialises in aerospace, high-tech materials and biogas.

The following article is obtained from here.

Québec Premier Philippe Couillard announced at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, a research and development initiative between the Gouvernement of Québec, Hydro-Québec (with its subsidiary TM4), PSA Peugeot Citroën and Exagon Motors.

Their goal is to develop a new high-performance electric drivetrain that will be manufactured by TM4 in Québec.

“TM4 will act as the developer of the electric powertrain in the pre-development phase of the project.

During this process, TM4 will develop a new, highly efficient and high performance drivetrain. This system will be a state-of-the-art evolution of the TM4 MOTIVE series, consisting of permanent magnet electric motors and power electronics. Specifically designed for passenger cars and light-duty vehicles, these systems are effective turnkey solutions created expressively for electric vehicles. This new powertrain will be designed and manufactured at TM4’s headquarters in Boucherville, Quebec.”

The government promised $10 million (CAD) equity interest and a $6 million (CAD) loan for the project, while Hydro­Québec will contribute another $4 million (CAD). In total, the project will cost nearly $31 million (CAD) .

Our concerns of commercialization of the product arose when we found that the $31 million is only for a feasibility study, but hopefully companies like PSA will introduce some high-performance plug-in DS-series model using those drivetrains.

“The resulting joint venture will bring together PSA Peugeot Citroën, French SME Exagon Motors, Investissement Québec and Hydro-Québec subsidiary IndusTech. Its first mission will be to conduct a feasibility study for an estimated CAD 30.8 million. In an initial phase, the study could lead to the development of components for high-performance electric vehicles.”

“PSA Peugeot Citroën would lend its expertise in integrating the electric vehicle components, for which it would become the main customer for worldwide distribution.“

The Québec electric drivetrain project seems to have many supporters:

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said:

“My government intends to make Quebec a standard-bearer in the campaign to electrify transport. Our commitment to the project announced today and our 2015-2020 Transportation Electrification Action Plan are another milestone in the drive to develop the electric car sector, and they will help to spread a culture of innovation throughout Quebec.”

by Robert Rapier

I write about energy, the environment, and the economy.

This article is taken from here.

Many people talk about fossil fuels as if they are monolithic, but there are key differences between them that impact their outlook. Coal and natural gas are used primarily for heating and power production, but there are many competitors in this space. Not only do they compete with one another for supremacy in power production, but there are scalable non-fossil fuel alternatives like nuclear power which in theory could totally displace either or both from the market. Further, they compete against hydro-electricity (which actually supplies more power globally than nuclear power), and fast-growing renewables like wind and solar power. For these reasons I think coal’s days in particular are numbered.

Petroleum is in an entirely different category. It is used primarily for transportation, and it has held more than 90% of the transportation market for over 60 years. To date there have been no scalable, economic competitors in the transportation space:

Biofuels made a push in the 2nd half of the last decade, particularly in the U.S. as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandated more ethanol in the gasoline supply. But the 1 million barrel per day (bpd) global increase in biofuel consumption in the past decade was a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly 7 million barrel a day increase in crude oil consumption over that time period. Thus, despite claims from many that biofuels would be a crude oil killer, demand growth for crude oil has been remarkably consistent, rising by an average of 1 million bpd for more than 30 years:

Globally demand growth for crude oil has been consistent for >30 years.

This constant demand growth happened despite biofuels, conservation, higher fuel standards, skyrocketing crude oil prices, and carbon emission legislation — which was contrary to the expectations of those who have been predicting the end of the oil age for the past 2 decades or more.

That preamble brings me to the latest candidate to vie for the title of “crude oil killer.” This week Bloomberg published an article on electric vehicles (EVs) that made many of the same arguments biofuel proponents were using a decade ago: Another Oil Crash Is Coming, and There May Be No Recovery. The article starts by arguing that the present oil price crash is a result of 2 million bpd in excess crude capacity caused largely by the surge of U.S. shale oil production.

This article is taken from here.

Who among us hasn’t seen a drastic influx in the amount of business data related to our little corner of the world? At most mid-size and enterprise-level companies, there are obligations — if not requirements — to store that information. Are we also taking strides to make that data more searchable and discoverable?

The fact is, analytics is a process. It can be short (bordering on instantaneous) or drawn out, but it involves converting raw data into usable insight, and then using that insight to fuel game-changing decisions. On that road to performance, there are several steps, and it all starts with the accessibility and usability of data.

In Aberdeen Group’s recent report, Explore It, Don’t Just Store It: The Value of Searchable Data, the research highlighted companies that had taken that first step, but were also executing in other key areas of the analytical process, including:

• Better sharing and collaboration. The ability to create top-notch insight can be improved by bringing to bear wisdom and experience from multiple areas of the organization. Companies with a significant increase in searchable data were almost three times more likely to share data and knowledge across business functions.
• Broader analytical exposure. Beyond simply connecting data between functional areas of the company, another critical step is building deeper analytical activity and a data-driven culture within these different areas of the company. The research shows that companies with growth in searchable data also enjoyed a greater degree of analytical pervasiveness in key functional areas like sales, finance, and marketing.
• Technology diversity. The rapid expansion and evolution of analytical capabilities has allowed organizations to connect the right tools with the right user types. Those with a strong increase in searchable data are more likely to use some of the old mainstay business intelligence (BI) technologies like managed reporting and strategic dashboards, but also some of the more sophisticated tools like predictive analytics and interactive data visualization.

– See more at: http://techproessentials.com/data-spinning-straw-into-gold-with-analytics/#sthash.1PUAlqwf.dpuf

The following article can be obtained here.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The charger built by researchers from Kettering University with support from HELLA, an automotive electronics company, and gallium-nitride power switches from GaN Systems. The new charger boasts a conversion efficiency of 97%, around 3% more than similar chargers, even though it works at lower power densities. (Image courtesy of GaN Systems).

As the falling price of gasoline helps to soften concerns about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers and semiconductor companies remain focused on advancing electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure behind them. Recently, the Advanced Power Electronics Lab (APEL) at Kettering University partnered with HELLA, an automotive electronics company, to develop a compact vehicle charger that makes a big step forward in efficiency.

The researchers built what is known as a Level 2 charger, which plugs into a wall outlet and converts electricity into a form more suitable for electric cars. What sets apart the new charger is an efficiency of 97%, more than 3% over the average for these chargers. The charger used power switches based on gallium-nitride transistors, wide bandgap semiconductors that operate at higher voltages and temperatures than silicon. With these components, supplied by GaN Systems, the charger achieved a 2.6 kW per hour power density.

While Level 2 chargers typically have higher power densities than the new model, their efficiency has stalled around 94%. Even though they require special charging equipment, Level 2 chargers add about 10 to 20 miles of range per hour of charging time, according to the Alternate Fuels Data Center, the energy department’s storehouse for electric vehicle data.

According to Dr. Kevin Bai, an associate professor of electrical engineering at Kettering University, the key to the charger’s efficiency is a special two-stage design. Unlike traditional three-stage versions, the new design allowed the researchers to make a lighter and more compact charger. Bai characterized the advance as a “game changer” in electric vehicle charging.

In a three-stage process, the charger converts ac grid voltage into dc voltage, inverts the dc into high-frequency ac, and then rectifying ac to dc again to charge the car’s battery. Bai says each stage of this process results in about a 2% power loss.

In addition to Level 2 chargers, there are also Level 1 chargers that add about 2 to 5 miles of range to an electric vehicle per hour of charging time. Also available are dc fast chargers, like the models used by Tesla Motors and Nissan, which can add roughly 50 to 70 miles of range in about 20 minutes, according to the Alternate Fuels Data Center. Tesla Superchargers can apparently provide 170 miles of range in about a half hour, delivering up to 120 kW of dc power directly to the battery, according to the company’s website.

The research between HELLA and Kettering University began last year, as the automobile industry prepared for a new wave of advances in electric vehicles. Earlier this year at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, automotive companies unveiled new long-range electric vehicles, like the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt, which the company claims can drive more than 200 miles on a single charge.

While advances in rechargeable batteries and design have made electric vehicles more competitive with traditional cars, the charging infrastructure has been the subject of equally intense research. In 2015, for instance, Bai worked with Derindere Motorlu Araclar (DMA), a Turkish automotive company based in Istanbul that is focused on developing electric vehicles. They developed a prototype three-phase 380-volt, 24 kW charger, a huge step over existing 3.3kW or 6.6kW on-board chargers.

The original article is obtained from here.

In July of last year, Scopus launched an open access (OA) indicator to make it easier for users to identify OA journals (click here to read more about Scopus and open access). In the initial release the indicator appeared on the ‘Browse sources’ and ‘Journal details’ pages. Now, as of February 4, 2016, the indicator appears in additional Scopus pages to make it easier for you to identify content that comes from an open access title (a journal registered with either the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or the Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD)). These pages are the search results, list pages (temporary and saved lists), and author profile pages. View the images below to see how the indicator works in each page and then follow the tip & trick at the end of this post to learn 3 ways to search for open access journals (updated fromthis earlier post).

Identifying open access content in the search results page

Identifying open access content in lists

A note about ‘Lists’ in Scopus: you can add items to a temporary list by clicking on ‘Add to list’ from your search results, and then view your list by clicking on ‘Lists’ in the main navigation bar. However, if you have registered in Scopus and are logged in, you can build saved lists and group items into specific categories. Click on ‘Save to list’ in the results page, and select a saved list to add to, or create a new list. Content from open access titles will appear in both saved and temporary lists. You can learn more about personalization in Scopus and managing saved lists in this tip & trick.

Identifying open access content in author profile pages

3 ways to search for open access journals in Scopus

Navigate to the ‘Browse Sources’ tab in Scopus and choose from the following options to search for open access journals:

Refer to the ‘Browse sources’ image below when following these steps:

Option 1:

• In the Browse box, click on the drop-down menu next to ‘Subject Area’ to select your subject area of choice
• Also in the Browse box, tick the ‘Open Access’ check box: ‘Display only Open Access Journals’
• Click on ‘Display Sources.’ This search will yield only open access journals which cover your search topic
• Open access journals are indicated with an orange open access label

Option 2:

• If you know the title of the open access journal you are looking for, click on the first letter of the open access journal’s title in the Alphabet box, below the ‘Browse Box’ (see image below)
• You can identify an open access journal by the orange open access label on the results page

Option 3:

• In the Search box, click on the drop-down menu and select Title, ISSN or Publisher
• Enter the relevant information in the search field and tick the ‘Display only Open Access journals’ box
• The orange open access label will appear when the title is open access

The original article can be obtained here.

Mahindra’s participation in the world championship for electric cars Formula E will help the company in development of mass-produced eco-friendly vehicles, according to a top official of the series.

With technology already trickling down, innovation in the electric racing car around battery, drive train and charging system will help in the design and development of the vehicles at large scale in the long run, Formula E Director of Media and Strategic Partnerships Ali Russell told PTI.

Company’s engineers are working to learn from the racing series and already there is a transfer of information between the race team and the factory, he said.

“Engineers from Mahindra who work in the factory, spend time in the race outlet. What happens even now, they are getting to understand cooling systems, chemistry behind the batteries, about high performance, how to get more out of an electric motor,” he said.

When asked how soon technology from Formula E cars can be seen in road cars, he said,”it is already (happening) with small engineering points that are being transferred in car design. In the long term we dream about the battery coming through Formula E.”

Russell said the idea behind Formula E is that the international motorsport body FIA has been looking “at creating a sport that creates innovation for the electric car industry”.

“With these innovations, we want to be cost effective be it for electric drive train, battery and charging system,” he added.

Mahindra, like most other companies, has invested heavily in the electric cars and has helped in creation of new intellectual properties.

“Moving forward, the innovation in the car around battery, drive train and charging system will help in the design and development of mass production (electric) vehicle,” Russell said.

Earlier, Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director Pawan Goenka had told PTI that the company “hoped that through the racing we will be able to bring technologies to our road cars. It is a gradual thing.”

He however hastened to add that it is a long process and not something that would happen in a year as what goes into racing cars are too expensive to come immediately to road cars.

On the Indian market, Russell said: “We want to be a catalyst in creation and innovations for urban and green mobility in India.”

Mahindra is taking part in Formula E through its Mahindra Racing team. This season it is racing with its M2Electro, making it one of a select few manufacturers that developed an all new electric powertrain for the series.

The racing car can accelerate from 0-100kms under 3 seconds.

The company’s electric vehicle line-up includes small car e20 and sedan Verito Electric, besides passenger vehicle Maxximo Electric.

By Eric Schaal.

The original article can be found here.

It wasn’t long ago that range anxiety was the talk of the town when it came to electric vehicles. Consumers dreaded the idea of being stranded in a vehicle with no way a gas station could help. Well, maybe the concept (and locations) of EV charging stations began making the rounds. A recent survey by Navigant Research showed the biggest stumbling block for potential plug-in consumers was charging station infrastructure, which seems like a death knell for range anxiety.

Navigant’s survey had the majority of respondents citing “availability and inconvenience of charging” a plug-in car as the reasons they would stick to gasoline cars for now. Over one third (36%) said limited infrastructure was keeping them from taking the EV segment seriously, while the few respondents who actually owned an electric vehicle completely ignored the issue of range.

While the results of this survey are surprising on some level, the data we have about EVs and plug-in hybrids should assure us that range anxiety had already lost much of its grip on the green car consumer. The original Chevy Volt offered a perfect example: Equipped with a maximum of 38 miles in electric mode, Chevy reported that Volt drivers were doing 80% of their traveling without gasoline. With the new Chevy Volt’s 53 miles of range, the number is expected to top 90%. There are numerous pure EVs that top 80 miles of range.

The GM data assures us that short-range trips make up the bulk of traveling for U.S. drivers. Access to a home charger makes the equation simple for a driver with, say, a 20-mile commute to work. In such a case, the average EV’s range is more than adequate for everyday needs, and there is no reason to get anxious. On the other hand, trying to drive electric without access to a private garage would make the situation impossible.

Many electric car advocates have pointed to the need for better signage in the past as well. Speaking about the U.K. plug-in market, Ecotricity founder Dave Vance referenced the importance of “increasing public awareness that the infrastructure is ready for [consumers] to make the move to an electric car.” In Vance’s eyes, they have already built it; now you only need to tell potential EV drivers it’s all right to come and charge.

Respondents to the Navigant survey cited the inconvenience of charging an EV in listing potential drawbacks as well, and the time factor applies here along with charger availability. As the number of plug-in cars on the road increases, space is becoming limited at fast chargers and even at Level 2 chargers in popular locations. Drivers who grew up expecting a fill-up in less than 10 minutes tend to find charging beyond 20 minutes unacceptable.

Once the fast-charging network grows, this stumbling block to EV development will fall off the list with range anxiety and general access to a charger. However, large-scale deployment could take years. With the Chevy Bolt EV coming to market in 2016 and GM having no plans invest in charging infrastructure, the inconvenience of public charging may get worse in hot spots before it gets better. Fortunately, 200 miles of range will at least take anxiety off the table for commuters.

25 janvier 2016 à 07:49

Cet article viens d’ici

A l’extérieur, rien ne différencie cette 2CV des millions d’autres produites par Citroën. Mais son silence de fonctionnement trahit un secret: elle a été convertie à l’électricité pour pouvoir continuer à transporter des touristes à Paris, sans polluer.

A l’origine de cette initiative, la société «4 roues sous 1 parapluie» qui a développé son activité depuis 2003 autour d’une automobile assimilée dans le monde entier à la France.

Treize ans plus tard, l’entreprise revendique 20.000 clients par an et entretient un parc de quarante 2CV, aux volants desquelles se relaient une centaine de chauffeurs.

«On fait beaucoup de choses sur mesure: le Paris éternel des monuments incontournables, le Paris méconnu, le Paris +by night+, les excursions shopping… Paris est un terrain de jeu fantastique», explique à l’AFP Florent Dargnies, PDG de cette société qui tire son nom du cahier des charges de la 2CV.

«Quand les gens voient la voiture, ils sourient d’emblée. C’est une voiture qui facilite les échanges et la rencontre», assure M. Dargnies, affichant son ambition de faire des 2CV à Paris «l’équivalent des gondoles à Venise».

Il se prend à rêver d’une flotte de 400 «deuches» aux couleurs acidulées. Produites à plus de cinq millions d’exemplaires, elles ne sont pas rares même si la cote monte: de 5.000 à 6.000 euros pour un modèle en bon état.

«Notre souhait est vraiment de travailler avec la Mairie de Paris pour que ce véhicule soit non seulement accepté mais participe à l’image, à l’art de vivre à la française», argumente-t-il.

Il remarque que «la 2CV coche toutes les cases» pour accueillir des touristes. Notamment, «elle est décapotable, donc on a une très bonne vue des monuments». Seul hic: le «problème du moteur thermique» à essence, plutôt polluant.

– Parcours du combattant administratif –

Les origines du deux cylindres de la 2CV refroidi par air remontent en effet aux années 1940. C’est en raison des normes antipollution que Citroën s’était résigné à cesser la production de son modèle fétiche en 1990, après 42 ans.

Or, la maire (PS) de Paris Anne Hidalgo manifeste la volonté de se débarrasser des véhicules polluants, avec une entrée en vigueur progressive d’interdiction de circulation des modèles les plus anciens.

La conversion des 2CV à l’électrique pourrait constituer la panacée, fait valoir M. Dargnies qui a lancé ce projet il y a cinq ans, menant de front «la recherche et développement, la réalisation et de l’administratif», soit un véritable parcours du combattant avant d’obtenir un brevet, une homologation et une carte grise, fin 2015.

Ayant bénéficié du feu vert de Citroën, la 2CV électrique de M. Dargnies, qui n’existe pour l’instant qu’à un exemplaire, est équipée d’un groupe motopropulseur de 16 kilowatts issu de la défunte société de voitures Mia Electric, basée dans les Deux-Sèvres.

La batterie permet une autonomie de 80 km, ce qui est «largement suffisant pour la circulation en ville», remarque M. Dargnies. Elle se recharge en trois heures sur une prise domestique. La voiture a conservé sa boîte de vitesses avec son levier «porte-manteau» et peut atteindre 110 km/h.

Une jauge électronique de batterie a trouvé sa place sous la planche de bord côté passager, aussi bien intégrée que la prise d’alimentation, en lieu et place de l’embout de réservoir d’essence. De couleur verte, la 2CV électrique se pare d’un autocollant «21», clin d’oeil à la conférence mondiale sur le climat de Paris (COP 21), en marge de laquelle elle a été présentée en décembre.

Une 2CV silencieuse est-elle encore une 2CV, alors que les vocalises de son petit moteur ont marqué des générations de Français? M. Dargnies convient que «le bruit fait partie du charme de la voiture», au même titre que sa silhouette ronde et ses suspensions élastiques.

Il assure travailler à «recréer le bruit en fonction de la vitesse de la voiture» via des hauts-parleurs, comme cela existe déjà sur certaines BMW ou Renault. «Ca ne me semble pas être le plus compliqué», dit-il.

Memories of the battle Prost vs Senna in the 80s flashing back …

The following article is taken from here .

Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi competes in the Formula E ninth round in Moscow earlier this month.

Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Everything seems familiar. Piquet, Prost and Senna are all just millimetres off the ground in state-of-the-art racing cars, their breakneck speed round the track being watched by millions. But something is missing: the roar of engines.

This is Formula E, the nascent form of motor racing coming to Battersea Park in London next weekend for the conclusion of its inaugural championship. Staged in 10 cities and featuring Nelson Piquet Jr, Bruno Senna (nephew of Ayrton) and Nicolas Prost (son of Alain), the championship is a showcase for the potential of the electric car. But despite the famous names, and the $100m that Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag says it has cost to launch, many people may know little about a competition that held its first race in Beijing only last September.

This, however, will change, Agag believes. “We are having an amazing response because of one factor – we race in the city centres,” he said. “If we were racing on a track 50 or 100km from London, no one would come to the race. Instead we already sold over 50,000 tickets [for London] because we bring the show to the people.”

Agag, who has a background in Formula 1 sponsorship, admits that when the idea of creating a world championship for electric cars was floated, few thought it would succeed. But races in Miami, Monaco and Berlin all sold out. Agag said Formula E is already producing “significant revenues”. “Many people didn’t think we were going to make it,” he said. “The first race was a surprise for many. Now we have great momentum, great sponsors; it’s a fantastic achievement.”

Unlike Formula 1, Formula E offers drivers a level playing field on which to compete. The cars, which have a top speed of 140mph, and are capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in three seconds, are all built by the same consortium. During the 11-lap races, drivers racing on all 10 teams will make a mandatory pit stop to change vehicle.

This homogeneity is attractive to fans who fret that motor sport has become dominated by the wealthier teams. As Nicolas Prost, a driver for Renault, told a recent TedGlobalLondon audience, the difference in Formula E is made “by engineers and drivers, not by money”.

To others, though, the real attraction of Formula E lies not in the spectacle, but in what it promises to deliver to the wider world. Sir Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Racing team, currently in sixth place in the championship, believes the sport will push the development of electric road cars, with significant consequences for global health. “We spend a lot of time these days looking to a world that is carbon neutral by 2050, and unless you have sports like Formula E we will never get there,” Branson said in an interview posted on the team’s website. “It’s a tremendously exciting aim and Formula E will pioneer technology that will be used on normal road cars. I hope 10 years from now the smell of exhaust from cars will be a thing of the past, much like the smell of cigarettes in restaurants.” There is an irony at work here. A new version of a sport that helped glamourise smoking is now helping normalise the idea of cities free from petrol fumes.

As the Virgin Racing team explains in its mission statement: “It is now proven that pollution in cities is directly linked to the increase of cancer and other lung diseases. It is critical that we move the pollution from tailpipes away from cities to the power plants where electricity is generated.”

This, Agag argues, was the reason Formula E was established. “We saw that it was time to reinvent motor sport in a sustainable way. Now, for anything to be relevant, you have to be doing something for the environment, the planet. Our aim is for all the cars in the world to be electric one day. We think that by showing them racing, you can change people’s perception of electric cars.”

They have their work cut out. The first battery-powered vehicles were produced in the 19th century but they have yet to become popular – despite the fact they that are far more efficient than conventional forms of propulsion. A car with an internal combustion engine has an average energy efficiency of 25%, because large amounts are lost on vibration and noise. Pure electric cars, however, have an average energy efficiency of 80%.

Agag believes Formula E can drive this message home, especially by reaching out to the younger generation. Formula E includes a feature called “Fanboost”, that gives spectators a chance to vote, via the website and social media, for drivers to receive a five-second surge of extra power during their race. Petrolheads will shudder at such innovation, but Agag is unapologetic about who it is aimed at. “It makes it really interactive. The young fans love it. We want to convince the kids to buy electric cars.”

It’s not just kids in the western world, either. “Geographically, city locations are key for us,” Agag said. “We want to make it global so we have to be everywhere. We look at different cities – some in Europe, some in Asia, some in South America. We’re also looking at Africa and maybe Australia. We want as wide a coverage as possible.” Ultimately, the aim is to turn the championship into a laboratory that will yield benefits for the motor industry as a whole.

“There are a lot of lessons that can be learned that can then be applied to road cars,” Agag said. “After nine races we already have so much data on the regeneration of energy and energy recovery and that is something that can be applied to batteries that are now being manufactured for road cars.”

Improving the battery life of electric cars is the industry’s holy grail. Tim Lawrence, head of global manufacturing at PA Consulting Group, which advises some of the largest motor manufacturers, acknowledges that “the marketing and the hype around the Formula E circuit will help develop momentum in the electric vehicle market” and build on the recent high-profile launches of electric cars produced by the likes of BMW and Tesla.

But Lawrence suggests that whether the industry succeeds willl depend on how it tackles “battery range anxiety”. Many electric car batteries can now be fully charged in less than an hour, but they still cannot power a vehicle for a reasonably long distance. “Battery range is the biggest challenge,” he said. “Currently it’s something like 100 to 130km. You really need to get over the 200 mark.”

At the moment, electric cars account for only between 1% and 2% of the market. This is not where manufacturers thought they would be by now.

“Adoption has been very slow,” Lawrence said. “The Nissan Leaf has sold only something like 10,000 cars across the whole of Europe. I’ve been talking with Renault and Peugeot over the last 12 to 18 months and it’s been highly disappointing for them. Their expectations were much higher than the market has delivered.” How governments embrace the new technology will be equally, if not more, important than whether motor sport helps to popularise it, Lawrence believes. “Some countries, such as Norway, offer significant tax incentives. As a result, their [electric car] adoption rates have been much higher.”

But few struggling carmakers, which remain ambivalent about electric vehicles, are likely to welcome such initiatives when they have petrol and diesel powered vehicles to sell. “At the moment a lot of economies are recovering from a long recession,” Lawrence said. “Carmakers are very much in the mindset of selling product rather than pushing technology.” Indeed, it would be a brave CEO of a motor manufacturer who bet heavily on an electric future when other forms of sustainable propulsion, such as hydrogen, are entering the market.

And perhaps this is where Formula E can really help shape the future, for only in the first year of the championship are the cars identical. From next year, manufacturers will be allowed to start modifying designs. And the year after, they will be able to fit their own choice of battery. In time, the championship could become the battleground where technologies compete to see which can best replace the combustion engine. “I would like the FIA [motor sport’s governing body] to include anything that can power an electric motor 100%,” Agag said. “So it could be hydrogen, it could be super capacitors; we are looking at everything.”