Formula E Car Racing a Real Cheetah Is a Different Kind of Drag Race

However, some hardcore motorsport fans were less than impressed with the performance of the battery-powered single-seaters, which may have a decent acceleration, but are limited in their top speed. Not that it would matter too much, though, since the races are designed to hide this weakness of the cars.

Besides, it's not their speed that most detractors are actually bothered by, but what the FIA Formula E stands for: the death of motorsport as we've known it since forever and the birth of something similar, but also completely different.

It may seem like the stuff that makes cars go fast around a track isn't so important as long the speed is there and the drivers are battling for the win. And yet electric power versus gasoline - or even diesel - does bring one major change: the sound.

Right now, you will first hear a race car as it powers its way toward the corner hiding it from your view, and only then spot it. With the Formula E - and other electric championships like the upcoming Electric GT or the Jaguar I-PACE series - you might even not know they're there if you're not looking.

We're obviously exaggerating, but even though there are people who enjoy the whirling of an electric car, most will agree it's a far cry from a race-spec gasoline engine at full throttle. But if the car industry is shifting toward electricity, so will motorsport and there's nothing we can do about it.

Besides, the electric revolution claims to do another thing, and that's to partly solve the global warming problem which affects every living being on Earth. To convey this message, the organizers of the racing series decided to pit a Formula E race car against a cheetah, the fastest land animal on the planet.

We don't have any insight into how this was done, but we're pretty sure it wasn't like this video might suggest. But it's not important. What matters is that the message gets across and that we get an opportunity to look at this wonderful creature that is in great danger of going extinct due to global warming.