JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015 - 14

automotive
JCM: You're a Renault
ambassador. Aren't there
other subjects besides
price that builders have to
communicate on in order
to raise public awareness?

A.P. : We communicate

on a number of subjects,
but perhaps we don't
do it well enough. And
then, there are also limits
to the advantages of
Formula E car test debut ©Renault & FIA Formula-e championship
competition, because in
lower weight, and performance... and I
competition, you're confronted with other
think that there is a lot more to do on the
builders. And this is the first time in four
batteries. We can't really say that a lot has
years that Renault hasn't won.
been accomplished so far, because builders are still using off-the-shelf batteries.
You need to put things in proportion, and
There haven't been any real developments
it's true that communicating at that level is
so far, and what we are going to do with
not always easy. For years, what I've wanted
this championship will certainly be of use.
to get people to understand is that, quite
Composites are going to be more important
apart from engaging in competition that
again with the batteries, because we have to
can help to accelerate development and get
lower the weight. This is money well spent.
messages across or motivate company perIt is important to say that, because spending
sonnel, you can also lose! You have to accept
money on aerodynamics today would not be
that. In that case, the common interest has to
particularly of use for cars like these.
take precedence over private interests. Like
with electric cars - it's obvious that those
JCM: Do you think that with Formula-E, the
who make the right choices in engines and
spinoff for series vehicles will be faster than
batteries will get ahead. But the builders
what we see with Formula 1?
are engaged, and there's going to be a lot
A.P. : For the engine, for example, F1
of development. As I said, for now we're
regulations currently require a small 1.6-litre
talking about off-the-shelf products. It's a
engine with a single turbo and two energy
little like assembly, though you can see the
harvesters. This engine is not popular with
opportunities and imagine the spinoff once
everyone in F1 circles. Even the public is not
the potential has been made clear.
all that appreciative, because it doesn't make
as much noise. And yet, the technology is
JCM: We've talked about the engine and
battery aspects, but otherwise how are these
quite fabulous. This technology along with
electric cars fundamentally different from the
the accumulated know-how is later adapted
F1 cars that you know so well?
to improve series vehicles.
This is also true for the electric car, and when
A.P. : They are different because the
I think of the development potential and
weight distribution is not the same, and
what we are going to be able to do in years 2
also because the batteries are still so heavy.
and 3... I can say for sure that there will be
Besides the fact that the engine has been
at least 40 to 50% more potential on the batreplaced by batteries, the design is almost
teries. Which is huge. Today the F1 engine
the same - though once again, the base is
has as much power as last year's engine,
identical, but the details are very different.
and it consumes 30 to 40% less fuel. What
They also make less use of electronics, and
disappoints me a little is all the criticism of
on the performance side, we are trying to
automobile racing, when competition and
limit the speed to about 250 km/h. The
the F1 do contribute a lot. People don't
cars run only on circuits located in cities
realize all the spinoff and technology that
to facilitate promotion and increase public
they wind up benefiting from.
exposure. The performance is close to that

14 jec composites magazine / No95 March 2015

of F3 or GP2 vehicles, and much lower than
that of F1.
We can always compare them in terms of
technology, of what has already been done,
or of regulations, but that's all. The idea isn't
really to compare them at all, and F1 is still
tops in auto sports and technology within a
regulatory framework. If you draw a parallel
between competition and series cars, the
F-E is going to develop, but it won't replace
the F1, any more than mass-produced
electric cars are going to replace cars that
use combustion engines - or at least, that
will take quite some time. And would that
even be desirable? I don't know. I do know
that we need electric cars, and we can hope
that electric cars will work out, especially in
cities, using innovative concepts. Personally,
I've always been very open to reason on
this kind of change. I've carried out some
missions for the government on biofuels and
electric power, and I know the market share
that electric normally should have twenty
years from now, and in big cities. And even
if the concept of car utilization changes, the
change will take time.
JCM: As the head of a racing team, do you
think there are things you can't do because of
material limits?

A.P. : If I compare the team we have today

with the one I had a few years ago in F1, I'd
say that nothing is limiting us in terms of the
materials, other than the regulations we have
to comply with. In F-E for now, as I mentioned, everyone has the same car and so it's
like a shared car: we can change the settings,
but we can't change the car. So that changes
the format from F1. On the other hand,
starting in Year 3, we'll be able to focus more

The Spark - Renault SRT 01E is the first car to be
homologated by the FIA
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015

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