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As Formula E Comes to Miami, Critics Question Whether Electrified Race Is Indeed Green, Miami Fresh Times

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As Formula E Comes to Miami, Critics Question Whether Electrified Race Is Indeed Green

Electric current surges through a spinning blue Earth. A wind turbine whirs majestically under a ideal perky cloud. A woman runs her palm through a wheat field bathed in golden light. And a sleek racecar is unveiled as engines rev and fans scream. “The race to the future,” a faraway voice announces, “is about to embark.”

That’s the way Formula E, an all-electric spinoff of the madly popular Formula one car racing series that’s coming to downtown Miami March 14, sells itself: ecological, graceful, and ahead of the curve. That hype has attracted international television deals for a tour of ten high-profile cities, celebrity backers — including Leonardo DiCaprio — and big-name drivers.

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But not everyone is so struck. Even before the very first tire hits Biscayne Boulevard, Formula E has inspired myriad criticism. Residents who recall the old Miami Grand Prix are unhappy that a major part of downtown will be closed off for a total day on a busy weekend. A local electric-racing champ says the series opted for flash over sustainable design. And public-space advocates balk at organizers’ presentation of the race as a triumph of the green movement.

“There’s nothing green about it,” says Peter Ehrlich Jr., a local environmentalist. “How do you justify calling something green and then applying to ruin a five-acre waterfront site?”

Electrical cars have actually been around since even before Henry Ford’s Model T. One English inventor, Thomas Parker, built a rechargeable, battery-powered carriage in 1884. A Chicago company produced an electric-gas hybrid in 1911. But as the internal combustion engine rose to prominence and gasoline became widely available, the slower and less powerful electrified vehicles were overtaken by cheaper and more powerful gas models.

Despite a latest resurgence of interest and high-profile models like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster, electrified cars remain, on the entire, expensive and novel — less than 0.Five percent of global car sales.

The people behind Formula E want to switch that. The series was conceived three years ago by Jean Todt, a 66-year-old French racing legend, former Ferrari CEO, and the romantic playmate of actress Michelle Yeoh, the Bond woman from Tomorrow Never Dies.

Todt is president of Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. The FIA oversees Formula 1, a $1.Five billion global racing behemoth that attracts hundreds of millions of television viewers each race. Todt, after a legendary career in traditional motor&bashful;sports, dreamed to turn his attention to sustainability. He spotted a fresh, electrified series as a way to both entertain and inspire climate-change activity, according to Luca Colajanni, Formula E’s communications chief. So Todt created Formula E. “Todt is a man who comes from racing,” Colajanni tells Fresh Times. “So he knows how much motor sports can be a driving force for technological development. This is the basic concept of Formula E.”

Todt, unsurprisingly, moved prompt. He appointed Alejandro Agag, a successful Spanish businessman and former politician, as Formula E’s CEO. Within months, the series was developing racing logistics, locking in backers, and considering host cities. After a ten-month design period, the battery-powered Spark Renault SRT_01E, which has a top speed of around one hundred fifty mph and accelerates from zero to sixty in toughly three seconds, debuted as the car for all ten teams. (In future seasons, teams will be able to design their own cars.)

To attract a junior, more diverse audience, the series also determined to race in city centers rather than existing suburban stadiums. The very first race was held last September in Beijing. That was followed by Putrajaya, Malaysia; Punta del Este, Uruguay; and Buenos Aires. Five cities, including Moscow and Monte Carlo, will go after the Miami race.

In Beijing, the race ended with a spectacular crash. On the last lap, after driver Nick Heidfeld attempted to pass on the inwards, he was clipped by Nicolas Prost. Heidfeld’s car was sent flying up a barrier. It flipped twice and shattered. Afterward, the boys almost broke into a fistfight on the track. Both were unharmed, but the crash muffled any impression that a non-gas race would be tame.

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