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Take a Look inside the Formula E Powertrain

With seven more Formula E races remaining in the inaugural season that begun in September this year, we can take a short break and have a look at what powers these machines. Yes, it’s all electric, but how does it work?
Exploded Formula E car scheme 1 photo
Photo: fiaformulae.com
Racing tech guru Craig Scarborough is here to explain all that and it’s actually quite simple to understand. All powertrains are identical, with the batteries being supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering while the motor and additional electronics are coming from McLaren Electronics Systems.

It might resemble a bit with a normal combustion engine, but that big part you could mistake for the engine block is actually the battery pack, which counts for 320 kg (705 lb) out of the total 888 kg (1,957 lb) weight of the car (driver included).

On top of that sits the inverter, or power controller, which is something like a throttle control on a normal car. It allows the demanded electric current to “flow” and power the motor which is located in the adjacent housing bolted to the battery unit.

Linked to the motor is a pretty standard gearbox and those two things on the sides are actually liquid cooling radiators. Why would it need such things if nothing burns inside? Get the answer in the video bellow.

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