Green racing sucks.  I know it's weird to start off a blog about Formula E with that kind of statement, but honestly it's what goes through so many racing fan's head at the mention of an electric car series.  Surprisingly, the topic of Formula E hasn't been nearly as controversial as I thought it would be.  That isn't to say that Formula E hasn't been controversial.  It just hasn't received the landslide of backlash I thought it would get.  I'm an active participant of many motorsport community forums online.  Any time Formula E is mentioned (or started as a thread) there's usually a sincere discussion from a healthy amount of interest from those within these communities.  Of course you occasionally get the random dismissal.  Green racing sucks.

To those who are new to racing or who have never been there in person.  Part of the appeal of motorsport is the sound.  And no it's not "just" a sound.  It is an awe-inspiring (if not frightening) experience.  Listening to the cars on TV or YouTube does not do it justice.  You really have to be there to understand why the "sound" is so important.  It's because what you hear isn't just "sound".  You literally feel the sound.  You feel the ground shaking.  You feel your entire body resonant and vibrate as if someone has turned you into a tuning fork and hit you against a giant metal pole.  Experiencing racing trackside, atleast the top tier series, is like experiencing God throwing a tantrum.  Racing is a force to behold and green racing is, in essence, taking that away.

It should be noted that not all green racing necessarily have to be this way.  The 2000s IndyCars with the IR05 chassis actually used 100% ethonol fuel and those cars sounded fine.  But generally speaking, green racing has lead towards a push for quiet technology.  The sound is gone.  The awe is gone.  It's not an experience anymore, it's just cars circling around a track.  But here is one thing that racing fans need to understand.  This doesn't really matter anymore.  The remote viewing experience (TV) never had that to begin with.  This is one of the biggest reasons why people who aren't into racing can't understand race fans because they see it on TV and they "hear" the sound but they never "feel" it.  Arguably, in this day and age, TV is more important than ever to have a sport take off.  Which is one of the reasons why racing has suffered so much in recent years (with the exception of a few series that are still growing like V8 Supercar).  Racing is intensely impressive in person but kinda dull on TV.  Ron Howard's movie Rush did it's best to capture the sound and feel of racing in person but even that falls short to the real experience.

Media (and sports) are consumed by the spectator when they want it and where they want it more than ever now.  Which usually means it's remote access.  Sure a basketball game is better in person than on TV but the experience gap between the two is absolutely nothing compared to the experience gap between those for racing.  This is why green racing... specifically Formula E... couldn't come at a better time.  I've watched some videos of Formula E and listened to the car.  The high pitch is kinda annoying but it's also new and, for me, interesting.  The cars seems like they will have low grip due to the low downforce and use of grooved tyres so the drivers look like they will be struggling to keep the car under control.  This might actually make for an entertaining remote access experience.  You see... what Formula E sacrifices in personal attendance experience it might actually make up for in areas that actually matter a little more in our modern age.  I don't expect Formula E's attendance to really be that strong.  But it doesn't really need to.  It just needs to be exciting to watch on TV and if it develops a fanbase there, that can actually even feed into attendance.  There's also another aspect that Formula E has going for it.  Technology.  Why do I watch racing if the remote experience is immensely pale in comparison to the personal experience?  Simple.  Because nerding out about the technology involved is really fun.  In F1, each car is designed and developed by each team.  In sports car racing, either creates their own chassis or buys a chassis to develop themselves.  Even in IndyCar, the series is planning on opening up development for different aero kits.  This matters to the public a little more than racing fans might think.  Sure a casual will probably not be able to explain the difference between the Daytona Prototype or the LMP2 for TUSC.  But the fact that they are different cars that you can see visually and see the differences in performance on track actually can make the viewing experience better.

I got into racing through IndyCar racing as a kid.  Do you know what I loved best about watching it on TV as a kid (this was the 90s since I'm a young motorsports fan)?  How well each chassis performed against one another.  Sure, I couldn't tell you the difference between the Penske chassis or the Lola chassis.  But so what?  I could see the difference and that just made it interesting for me.  That's how I got into racing.  Eventually I developed a hardcore interest where I understood terms like "downforce" and "drag" and "turbo-boost".  In order for casuals to feel like their time is worth investing in something... they need to know that the game is deep.  Otherwise they might feel that a sport is shallow and thus "probably not that great if I can't really dig deeper".  It's simple game design philosophy really.  And what are sports if not really giant games.

In terms of technology, Formula E has the best pitch.  It's electric race cars that develop electric battery and engine technology and which ever team handles that the best wins.  That's... actually pretty awesome when you think about it.  Each car in FE can be so different from each other.  It can be a war of technology and that's really what racing should be about to begin with.

Again... yes... unfortunately the sound is gone and it's understandable if traditional motorsport fans can't ignore that fact.  But... if everything else about FE sounds fascinating... I say it's worth a shot.  It's nice to see racing contribute to society other than just entertainment value.  I just hope that there is entertainment value in Formula E which is something I am unsure of.  This is why it has taken me this long to create a blog about it.  But, what's a fan that doesn't have a little faith?