Ford says Formula E an option for the future

[midtown]

https://sports.yahoo.com/ford-says-f...103027744.html

Mark Rushbrook, global head of Ford Performance Motorsports, told Motorsport.comt that FE was "still on the sheet of paper we are looking at" as it considers an entry into what he called "electrified motorsport".

His comments come a year after Ford was engaged in high-level talks with FE and appeared close to signing up for the series.

"We have been looking very closely through 2018 across all different forms of racing to understand what the options are for electrified motorsport, whether hybrid or full electric," said Rushbrook.

"Given what our cycle plan is for road cars we are very interested in adding an electrified form of motorsport in the near future.

"We continue to study all or most of those options, and I suspect we will be making decisions in early '19."

If only they used a Formula E picture for the car...

[AGRiculture]

Well, their soon to be announced strategic partner VW has two teams(Audi, Porsche) already...

[LAindycarfan80]

Most of these automotive companies love Formula E because its cheap to get involved (no aerodynamic tweaks and limited areas of development) and they can say they are looking forward to the electrification of automobiles. It sucks for other motorsport disciplines since they tend to move money out of that discipline and they end up spending much less in their Formula E team.

[uh_clem]

If only they used a Formula E picture for the car...

Or at least a Ford powered car.

[Andretti91]

I’ve been watching Formula E since the first race and honestly went into it with an open mind. So please don’t take this as a knee jerk reaction to it, it’s just really boring and dull. It’s devoid of any spectacle at all and any changes they make to the car or race weekends ends up make the whole thing even more bizarre.

[AGRiculture]

You must not have watched the Mexico City race then.

[LAindycarfan80]

Its like watching motorsport on mute so I'm not surprised it has a hard time catching on.

[I Love May]

I’ve been watching Formula E since the first race and honestly went into it with an open mind. So please don’t take this as a knee jerk reaction to it, it’s just really boring and dull. It’s devoid of any spectacle at all and any changes they make to the car or race weekends ends up make the whole thing even more bizarre.

Agree completely. I have tried and tried and it is not very interesting. Silent, under powered cars on Mickey Mouse circuits. The only thing it has going for itself is that the races are mostly at a time of year lacking any other open wheel racing.

[LAindycarfan80]

Yep, noise is part of the appeal of motorsports. I could understand a couple of diesel Lemans cars in a grid full of sportscars, at least they were unique. But an entire grid of cars that only make little to no noise due to electric motors. Its something people that dislike motorsports would like to happen since they never liked cars racing in the first place.

[Grizzlor]

You must not have watched the Mexico City race then.

I've seen better go-kart races, and at least those things still make noise.

[AGRiculture]

To each his own. The racing isn't all that much different than what we saw at St Pete that the fanboys gave 8-10 ratings. I would like to see better circuits especially with the new cars, maybe even real road courses beyond Mexico City.

[LAindycarfan80]

Their vision is mostly racing in city streets that is why they won't go to road courses. Mexico City is one of the few exceptions since the track is in the middle of the city.

[Vassago]

Yes, they want to race in big cities, the appeal of the tracks is second rate. Other than Mexico City, only the defunct Tempelhof Airport in Berlin offers some room which makes the track look a little wider than most of the other cookie-cutters.

[LAindycarfan80]

The only track which is original is the Berlin circuit....most of the tracks look the same, unfortunately it looks like they were more worried about the scenery of the skyline than designing a good circuit. Even the races at tracks where F1 races at are neutered.

[Lee Roy]

Most of these automotive companies love Formula E because its cheap to get involved (no aerodynamic tweaks and limited areas of development) and they can say they are looking forward to the electrification of automobiles. It sucks for other motorsport disciplines since they tend to move money out of that discipline and they end up spending much less in their Formula E team.

I would think that the automotive companies are getting involved because battery powered electric cars are the future. In probably ten years internal combustion powered cars will be in the minority.