This weekend the electric supercars of Formula E headed to Berlin's iconic Templehof Airport. The site, which was turned into a park in 2008, provided a stunning backdrop for the day's racing.
WIRED spent the day getting up close and personal with the cars and people working behind the scenes. We also got within a couple of feet of the cars as they sped past at 120mph -- surprisingly fast and unnervingly quiet. For the uninitiated, here's the lowdown on how Formula E works.
All the cars used by the ten teams competing in this debut Formula E season have an identical specification. Each team has two drivers and each driver has two cars, with drivers required to switch cars mid-race before the battery runs out.
Each car has 56kWh of energy available, the equivalent of the energy used by a two person household for six days, or running a standard dishwasher 70 times. The cars use 200kWh (270hp) during practice and qualifying and 150kWh (202.5hp) during the race. The format is similar to Formula 1, with practice followed by qualifying and then the race.
The cars have a top speed of 225km/h and go from 0 to 100kph (62mph) in 2.9 seconds. Saturday's race in Berlin was the eighth of the inaugural season, with two more rounds to come in Moscow and London. Former Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli started on poll but the race was won by Lucas di Grassi, who was later disqualified with second-placed Jerome d'Ambrosio awarded the win.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
