All the low-carbon fun of Formula One

By Jonathan Guthrie
Published: July 3 2008 03:00

It is disturbing to picture what this weekend's British Grand Prix would be like if it were environmentally friendly. Lewis Hamilton for McLaren and Felipe Massa of Ferrari would trundle grimly round the course in their 30mph hydrogen-driven go-karts. Meanwhile, a cloudy sky would leave Jenson Button stranded motionless in his solar-powered Honda. The crowd would secretly wish they had stayed at home to watch Wimbledon on television.
I make the point to illustrate the gulf between traditional grunt 'n' groan motorsport and the low-carbon racing that is largely the preserve of boffins and amateur enthusiasts. The chasm is thankfully narrowing. It will have closed entirely when Formula One cars whisper along powered by electricity in a giant version of Scalextric.
That day cannot come too soon. Motorsport is balanced on a cusp where other previously praiseworthy activities - including smoking, elephant shooting and western military imperialism - teetered before becoming uncool. The problem is that performance car racing is as friendly to the environment as napalming virgin rainforest. The typical Formula One car does a flamboyant 3.8 miles to the gallon, generating enough heat to condemn whole families of polar bears to a long swim.
Pondering the transition to a low-carbon economy, Chris Aylett, head of the UK's Motorsport Industry Association, concludes: "On the face of it, this whole industry could be wiped out." That would be a shame. Motor racing generates revenues of £5bn a year in the UK alone and is a hotbed of innovation. Moreover, it is unabashed fun.
The best solution is for motorsport to jump on the bandwagon and go green too. "As the population begins to think guiltily about fuel-extravagant activities, they will still want the excitement of motor racing," says Julia King, vice-chancellor of Aston University and author of a Treasury report on green vehicles. "[Electric racing] is the perfect solution. Otherwise it may become hard to justify motorsport."
As oil prices spike ever upward, racing teams and their sponsors have an opportunity to morph from eco criminals into apostles of low-carbon motoring. Mass-produced green cars badly need an injection of the glamour that motorsport is so adept at providing. They are, in Mr Aylett's words, "uninteresting and unattractive". He has a point. The main choice for British consumers is between the Prius, endorsed by uber-geek Bill Gates, and the G Wiz, a runabout resembling an orthopaedic boot. The 125mph Tesla sports car has only just entered production.
In its current incarnation low-carbon racing also smacks more of Professor Pat Pending and his Convert-a-Car than dashing Dick Dastardly in the Mean Machine. It boasts such esoteric contests as electric drag racing and solar-powered rallies involving cars shaped like flying saucers. As the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, motorsport's governing body, dolefully admits: "We know [these competitions] are the future, but they do not attract a massive following."
However, green technology is now crossing into the mainstream. Last year, Toyota fielded a hybrid vehicle in Japan's Tokachi 24-hour rally, a race dominated by petrol cars. It won. This year, ex-defence minister Paul Drayson is racing an Aston Martin powered by plant waste bioethanol in the American Le Mans series. Next year, an F1 rule change will allow drivers to deploy gizmos that capture energy lost during braking and release it to boost acceleration later. At least two F1 teams are expected to fit their cars with flywheels, devices associated with steam traction engines.
You may scoff. But in a few years you could be jangling your car keys à la Jeremy Clarkson and boasting about the extra poke a high-tech flywheel has given to your new ride. Motorsport spawns innovation. Tiny improvements in performance are worth striving for when race results are measured in milliseconds. The resulting technologies improve production-line cars. Motor racing has been the laboratory for breakthroughs ranging from streamlining to lightweight composites.
Ultimately, motorsport is likely to go electric to maintain its vital link with everyday motoring. Professor King's report identified vehicles powered by nuclear or renewable electricity as the lowest-emission option for road transport. The alternatives have bigger drawbacks, as illustrated by the pressure put on food prices by bioethanol production. Hydrogen technology is hampered by its lack of a fuel distribution network.
Electric vehicles, in contrast, can be topped up from a wall socket. The challenge is to develop batteries that hold more watts and recharge faster.
A problem specific to electric motor racing is that it is eerily quiet. Motorsport fans like their tyre-burning action to be accompanied by the banshee howl of high-speed piston engines. Mr Aylett admits motorsport executives have discussed whether electric cars could be fitted with loudspeakers relaying recordings of engine noise. Commentators would meanwhile face a culture shock of their own in describing electric races. Terms like "zooming", "roaring" and "screaming" would no longer suit.
Of course, one form of low-carbon racing has been with us for centuries. The vehicles burn sustainable fuel - oats - and their waste can be recycled as rose fertiliser. But expecting Messrs Hamilton, Massa and Button to gallop round Silverstone on thoroughbreds is perhaps too big an ask.
jonathan.guthrie@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008