Days out: Donington Race Track - Formula-E Testing day.

Days out: Donington Race Track - Formula-E Testing day.

I was lucky to get tickets to see one of the last testing days of the Formula E at their UK base before the start of the season in Beijing in a few months.

I have been a fan for traditional Formula One racing about 10 years ago. I never got to go and I wasn't too bothered either as I had heard a few bad things. 

Such as sitting around waiting for hours and only see something happen once every 3 minutes when they come across in-front of you. Also the noise, I am not the

best person when it comes to loud noises. I jump a mile at thunder and a balloon bursting.

As you are aware I am very proud to be an EV owner and driver and taking a sport I am interested in, advancing the technologies and making it more environmentally friendly was interesting to me. Therefore when I got the chance to go and find out more I was very excited. I was really excited to see another Renault Zoe actually registered and on the road. (up to now all we had seen were dealer demo cars) and then later in the day another one in the car park. We have gone 7 months not seeing another Zoe and then 2 in one day. Then much to my husbands delight he saw a right hand drive Tesla Model S parked right next to it. 

There are lots of statistics and information I could go on about but my highlights in a nutshell. The cars are engineered the same, same tires body etc. Therefore it is down to the computer tuning and the driver skill. I like this as no one team that can afford better gadgets have an unfair advantage. The cars are still very fast, A ‘normal’ formula one car would still have the speed advantage. But they have been racing years, and this is year one for formula-E. The noise, this was a strange one between our group I think we decided between, a loud remote controlled car and a a small jet engine. It was quite a whiney noise. 

One the day we all picked out favourite cars, I of course went for the shiny silver car of Virgin racing. The boys liked the matt black car that looked a cross between kit from Knight Rider and the Bat-mobile of team Trulli. I also liked having a few drivers that I knew who they were in the mix. 

After a coupe of hours watching from the grandstand everyone went on lunch and we got to go for a Pit Walk, this was a chance to get close to the cars and see the technology in the bays. This is also where I go some nice closer images.

After this we had our lunch and a walk up the hill to another vantage point. Through the day there were a few cars spin off and the safety car and crane were out. I guess this is part of the plan with the testing to get the drivers used to the cars.

After we had finished we had a look around the museum, (with our tickets we got 50% off entry making this £5) I think this was a good way to pass the time, but you wouldn't miss much if you decided not to go. There was a random war section at the beginning with tanks and old bikes, then it went on to race cars. There were lots of old cars and then through to modern cars. It was good to see how the aerodynamics have changed and the styling over the years. I then got to see a number of cars from back when I was watching Formula One in about 2000. Spotting the names of my favourite drivers and feeling like a child in a sweet shop.

I know there are only a few UK testing days left, but I would recommend going if you can. from going to this I am planning on following the Formula-E races. Now I just have to pick a team. With 2 UK teams to choose from I will see. I have a sneaky feeling it will be the Shiny Cars of Virgin Racing.

http://www.fiaformulae.com/en.aspx

http://www.donington-park.co.uk/

What do you think.

Nicola

Have you met Zoe? I love her very much.

I drive an Electric car.

So I own a lovely White shiny Renault Zoe. This is a 100% Electric car. I shall apologies now is if I call the car she, she is part of the family and we love her.

It too a lot of patience to get her but now we have her I wouldn't look back. 

What is different about an electric car. Well it is powered by electric and not petrol, therefore I have to plug it in to get mileage. We have a charger in our garage and also use chargers when out and about such as a supermarkets or motorway service stations.

We get around 80 miles distance in the winter and around 100 miles in the summer. I know this would not suit everyone but me and my husband have a less than 20 mile return commute to work. We also combine charging the car with the use of our solar panels.

A normal home charge takes around 3 hours and costs about £2.50. Therefore the cost is about 4p a mile. I do not know of any other vehicles that can match anywhere near that. We have also started using the Superchargers at our local services and these are free to use, are powered by sustainable electricity and take around 30 minutes.

Also she is a joy to drive, Before we go this car my husband would automatically walk to the drivers side of the car as I would never voluntarily drive anywhere. Now we argue who is driving and usually resort to one there and the other back. She is silent to drive and usually you can only hear her if the radio is on inside the car or we have the heater on to keep warm. The car is automatic and the smoothest drive I know.

The car is classed as being a super mini, but is spacious on the inside. The boot is quite large to and can fit in a wheelchair and shopping besides. The seating is comfy and firm and the leg room is better than our old car.

Yes we do have the second car that is a petrol car, but I can honestly say since we took delivery of Zoë in September we have put petrol in this twice. That car is only for use when we have more than an 80 mile trip, or where we are going do not have chargers. 

We are even planning a holiday to Cornwall this year and we shall be taking Zoë. and staying in a cottage where there is a charger.

I do understand that this type of car is not for everyone, and that Zoe is suitable for my lifestyle. There is a great community of EV car drivers and I am very proud of being one of those people.

There are a number of Ev cars on the market and over the years to come there will be many more no doubt. My aim is one day to be a Tesla car driver but right now I love my Renault Zoe.