The Venturi Formula E car sounds amazing and is already showing spectacular performance on the track. This means good news for the race series. Here is what it sounds like.
Venturi Formula E sounds great… to me
Most people’s reaction, when it comes to Formula E, is that they will miss the roar of an internal combustion engine (ICE). I say, nonsense. Electric vehicle (EV) racers make a great sound and much more futuristic than the strenuous screaming of piston engines. The problem with Formula E, and any new technology is that we’re creatures of habits. If three times is all it takes to take on a bad habit, it takes at least seven times to break away from it, if not more. Add to this that most of the things we crave and enjoy today are learned habits. I don’t know any baby who comes to this planet loving cayenne pepper or the roar of a gasoline engine. Most cry if introduced to it too early. It’s only later that we associate it with a pleasurable experience.
The first time I heard a real EV racer was at Pike Peak last year. The sound was amazing. It was a mix of the whoosh an airplane makes without engines and the particular whine of an electric motor under full load. What drove the fact home that EVs sound good that afternoon was hearing a kid telling his dad how cool that EV racer sound made: “Did you hear it? It was like a whoosh!”
Don’t know what that sounds like? Here is a great example of the Venturi Formula E on a track. Hopefully, that will bend your ear a little.
As you can hear from the video, it won’t take long for a new generation to catch on to the subtlety of this sound. That new generation is not encumbered by what we’ve all come to like and feel comfortable with, loud noises and strong vibration. After all, you can’t miss what you’ve never known and that Venturi Formula E is a great introduction of things to come.
Is noise and vibration dead?
Certainly not. There will always be a strong collector car market. Many car enthusiasts understand each car’s subtleties. I devote my profession to EVs, alternative energy and green performance, but still have two old Alfa Romeo cars parked in the garage. I expect one to make a certain amount of noise and the other have its own unique noise and vibration distinction. I don’t expect the many EVs I test drive to do the same. They will give me other equally rewarding experiences. Put it this way. You might be a French cheese aficionado, but still welcome the diversity of Dutch cheeses. One does not negate the other. And just wait to see what Harley-Davidson has in store for you.
In the meantime, foul cries that Formula E will not make any sound is seriously overblown. Alejandro Agag told me in our last interview that all twelve EVs racing will have the same decibel as one Formula 1 car, but what a much more elegant sound it will be. The Venturi Formula E just sounds great, period.
