Electric Formula 3 comes to SA

In 2012 the Formulec World Series officially starts. The series features fully electric Formula 3 cars, which will be racing across five continents in a ten-race season. In addition, for the first time, South Africa will host one of the races and events company ‚ Eco Promotions is searching South Africa for an exciting 2012 street race venue.

The future of motor racing has arrived! In 2012, The Formulec World Series officially begins ‚ the fully electric Formula 3 format-based motor-sport series will accelerate into South Africa during the 10 race season to be held on 5 continents. Eco Promotions, a local events company, has secured the rights as promoter to host South Africa’s first ever electric formula racing event.

“Formulec represents the future motor racing technology, highlighting radical new trends in motorsport while bringing them to South Africa on the African leg of this international event,”” says Paul Bisogno, Managing Director: ECO Promotions and official spokesperson for Formulec SA, “”The event will take on a festival atmosphere, drawing interest from all companies involved in renewable energy and sustainable transportation, the event will also be used as a showcase for other eco motor-sport events and technologies, showing South Africa’s capabilities and commitment to these new technologies.””

To secure a location for the South African inaugural event, Eco Promotions is in the process of evaluating various SA cities and sites for an exciting October 2012 street race. The successful hosting of this event is set to put South Africa at the forefront of renewable energy technology innovations, setting the standard for a new era of sustainability and environmental respect in motor-sport championships on the African continent. The chosen city will have the opportunity to host the public, open air carnival that will concentrate on green energy and eco solutions ‚ allowing all those in the industry a platform to showcase their technology, and affording the general public the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity.

Formulec’s car – the EF01, is a truly awesome single-seater capable of challenging its Formula 3 fossil fuel vehicles counterparts without compromise. The technology installed in the racing car is already accessible and widely commercialised, offering new opportunities within the SA automotive market. Owing to the nature of the EF01, Formulec is the only Formula series which really makes sense as a street race due to the extremely low noise levels produced by the vehicles ‚ this means that the public can view a world class racing event on the streets their own city. The ability of Formulec to be a non-circuit race allows its races to be held as a public events, opening up endless opportunities

The EF01 will be the exclusive vehicle for both the 2012 and 2013 seasons, allowing selected top-class international drivers to measure their skills behind the wheel of a high performance car on race tracks around the world. The vision for the 2014 season and beyond is for the ‚Formulec World Championship’ to be created for car manufacturers and industrialists who have developed their own electric single-seater racers to enter the Championship. This constitutes a long term opportunity for auto manufacturers to showcase technological innovations on an international platform both globally and within the South African market.

Technological innovations have become a new platform for manufacturers to compete. Besides the highly innovative software and hardware increasingly found in vehicles, sustainably powered vehicles have been seen with increasing frequency from most auto-manufacturers, heralding a new era in the motoring industry. Formulec represents the world of motor-sport on this front, with the bid by Formulec SA enjoying the support of both Motorsport South Africa and the AA (Automobile Association) of SA.

A Closer Look At The Car:

Social responsibility and the environment aside, the EF01 is a seriously aggressive and exciting vehicle. A technological masterpiece, the EF01 has a top speed of over 250km/h and will zip from 0 ‚ 100km/h in a meagre 3 seconds. It has been tested on the Bugatti track in Le Mans by Alexandre Premat, and has proved that, for racing, the ‚renewable energy’ label no longer refers to a theoretical, scientific dream. The EF01 heralds a new era in racing, and is the fastest electric single-seater race car in the world.

“”This car will revive the contribution that motor-sport has traditionally made to the mainstream automotive industry, we will see rapid advances in motor battery technology and will lead the way for exciting developments in electric vehicle technologies.”” says Winstone Jordaan, Technical Director: ECO Promotions and Official Spokesperson for Formulec SA.

Designed and created in France by Formulec’s highly skilled technical management team in partnership with engineering specialist SEGULA Matra Technologies and the automotive branch of SEGULA Technologies, the company’s first high performance fully electric single-seater has proved to be a top-performer with very high potential, ever since its first test run on 15th September 2010.

The EF01 has been deployed for the 2011 International Motor Racing season calendar as an opening showcase at a number of events in a promotional tour. And on occasion the EF01 is poised to go head-to-head with its combustion engine counter parts in dramatic challenges.

Real World Benefits:

As many people know, the Formula 1 series has long been a source of great technological advancement and innovation. Within the pressure system of a highly competitive sport, science has accelerated at a tremendous speed, and the resulting innovations have been making their way into every day vehicles since Formula racing first began.

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