Related Sections: Future Tech Vehicles
Mercedes-Benz shows us its race car for 2025
With Lewis Hamilton hoping to capture the Formula One driver's championship next weekend in a McLaren-Mercedes, the German car maker has given us a glimpse of how they see the future of racing. Formula Zero racing will combine elements of land yachting, luge, and the thrill of Formula One, along with a sensitivity for environmental issues which is typically at odds with today's racing.
Each team is given a fixed amount of energy to complete the race, and points are awarded based on a combination of elapsed time and energy efficiency. Even the spectators will get a futuristic perspective, as the race will be run on a glass track allowing them to watch the race from below!
If this all sounds pretty far fetched, at least one small part of it becomes reality next year when Formula One will start using regenerative braking to give the cars a brief power burst when passing.
Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero, via Born Rich
By reboot at 1:41 PM ON 10/26/08
I want one!
By Sly Hoax at 1:48 PM ON 10/26/08
It's great that auto makers are playing with wind powered vehicles, but the technology will never have a practical use for the average commuter. Let's face it- some days, there just isn't that much wind.
By ReeyferMadness at 9:55 PM ON 10/26/08
It doesn't sound far fetched - it just doesn't sound entertaining. Racing is fun to watch because it is fast and dangerous, not because the drivers are a bunch of idealistic unrealistic hippies. I don't have any particular desire to watch a race from under, either. It really just sounds like the typical "green ranting" that so many companies are doing today to sound up with the times.
But, no thanks. If I want to see sail racing, I'll watch SAILBOATS race. I'll stick to F1 and Nascar for my autoracing needs.
And yeah, wind powered cars have absolutely no place in real world use. I have seen the Dvice ppl talk about them and praise them, but they're just ridiculous. Even if you could completely eliminate friction and inertia and guarantee steady winds all of the time, who wants to cruise along at ten or fifteen miles per hour?
By ITrush at 9:11 AM ON 10/27/08
What the.. hmmm, nice idea though.
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