An electric F1 rolled in France!

For purists, motorsport is about aesthetics, smells, but also noise. What enthusiast has not vibrated when hearing a roaring engine? F1 spinning at nearly 20 rpm at the start of the steep slope, or while listening to a V000 sing Aston Martin running at full speed in the Le Mans night? Don't panic, this era is not yet over. However, new technologies are beginning to appear.

In 2006, Audi hit the headlines by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans with R10s powered by a diesel engine. Silent cars, almost allowing the friction of the air to be felt on the aerodynamic appendages. The public, then mostly unconvinced, did not desert Sarthe, continuing to support with fervor Peugeot or Audi.

Not long ago, it was up to Yves Courage to present a 100% electric prototype, intended to take the start of the Le Mans classic next June. An ambitious project to say the least? which will once again not fail to make people cringe.
Le Mans has always been the preferred place for manufacturers to carry out extraordinary experiments. But now F1 is getting into it too.

A chassis developed by Brawn engineers (before the team was bought by Mercedes), modified to accommodate an electric motor and two batteries, was in fact recently driven in France, at Magny-Cours then at Le Mans. This car thus formed would weigh a whopping 700 kg and would be capable of reaching 250 km/h. A well-kept secret, born two years ago now, to the credit of Quellec (a company specializing in the development of high-level sports automobile projects involving new technologies and alternative energies), which works in association with Segula Technologies (group specializing in engineering and innovation consulting).

The objective would be to obtain performances equivalent to those of a Formula 3 with a thermal engine, with an autonomy of fifteen to twenty-five minutes depending on the circuits. Many partners are already associated with this initiative, namely Hewland (gearboxes), Siemens (engine), Saft (Betteries) and Michelin (Tyres).

The two drivers called upon to carry out these tests are two Frenchmen whose reputation is well established: Jules Bianchi, resident of the ART team in GP2 and member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, and Alexandre Premat, Audi driver in DTM.

Eric Barberoux and Pierre Gosselin, the bosses of Quellec, would like to present their car in 2011, and would even aim to set up an electric single-seater championship in 2012 or 2013.

If these cars do not make more noise than the cars of the Andros Trophy Electric, so the result promises to be silent to say the least? and very disturbing.