António Félix da Costa grew up watching his two brothers race cars, and, ever since his oldest brother took him on a racetrack, he knew it was the choice for him.
"It drives me really," da Costa explained. "You know, it's the thing that makes me get out of bed in the morning. It's something I'm good at, probably the only thing that I'm very good at. And, you know, so I put all my energy, my time, my passion into it."
Da Costa races for DS Techeetah as one of its Formula E drivers, and was the Formula E 2019-2020 season champion. The all-electric car competition joined the FIA World Championship series in 2020, the same governing body that oversees Formula 1.
These cars go fast, up to 173 miles per hour, but they're also sending a sustainable message that the future can be electric.
"I'm not against having races with petrol cars and putting that as a show, but for us on the day-to-day, going from A to B on the streets, why do we need 700 horsepower, V12 cars, you know, polluting the world?" he said.
Formula E Grows
Formula E started in 2014 and has continued to grow. In its seventh season, it visited eight cities during its 15 rounds. Next season, it will expand to 16 races across 12 cities and four continents. The cars are mostly identical to each other, except for the proprietary technology in the back, including the powertrains and software, which have been improving.
"We're running with a lot more power than we did from season one," explained Michael Andretti, owner of Andretti Motorsports. "We're going over twice as far of a distance. So that's what's been pretty amazing."
The evolution has been remarkable, said DS Techeetah Formula E team lead Mark Preston.
"I think at the beginning, most people thought we really thought we were crazy," Preston said. "'You can't race an electric car' to now when we've got new powertrains and new jobs coming up in a couple of years that will take us another step in terms of performance."
Hotbed of Testing
What's more, the technology eventually transfers to the road.
"There's things that we're doing here that's going to end up on your road car," Andretti said. "It's no different than in other types of racing where the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] use it as a testbed to develop new things, new technologies."
Porsche, for example, has committed to a CO2-neutral balance sheet by 2030, meaning most of its cars will be electric. Its Formula E cars will help develop that technology.
"Electric cars are part of sustainability and sustainability is really important to Porsche," said Porsche Formula E director factory motorsport Pascal Zurlinden. "We use [Formula E] as a label to develop the new technology for the future."
Rethinking Race Strategy
But driving an electric race car requires a different kind of strategy. Because the batteries recharge during the race, you have to learn how to conserve energy, said Porsche Formula E driver André Lotterer.
"We all have the same battery capacity and the same power output," he pointed out. "But if you drive flat out in a race, you won't make it to the end. So we need to save like 20 or 30 percent of the energy in coasting and in regenning."
Though it's a different kind of race, it's still fun. Plus it highlights an important cause, the environment.
"This is the first time in my career that we can do this, in such a strong way and do something for the planet, which is very meaningful," Lotterer said. "I think we all have the responsibility to do our share for that."
After months of investigation, board members from U.S. big oil companies were slated to appear before a House oversight committee this week to discuss their respective roles in pushing for climate initiatives internally. However, all four board members from Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and BP said they couldn't attend due to scheduling conflicts. Climate experts are testifying in their place about how effective big oil's climate promises have been so far. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's lead science adviser Eric Lander has resigned after an investigation found he violated workplace policy. What will this mean for Biden's climate agenda? Amy Harder, executive editor of Cipher, a publication by Breakthrough Energy, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
The American Red Cross has declared its first-ever "national blood crisis" in the United States. Since COVID hit the U.S. in March 2020, blood donations have declined by 10 percent. American Red Cross Medical Director, Dr. Baia Lasky joined Cheddar News to discuss the country facing the worst blood shortage in over a decade. Dr. Lasky noted that as much as 40 percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood but only about 4 percent do so. "This is going to be ongoing," she said. "This is not an acute shortage. We really do need the commitment of people to come out and donate and donate again." Appointments to donate can be made by using the Red Cross Donor App, at RedCrossBlood.org, or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
Immunologist Dr. Purvi Parikh of the Allergy & Asthma Network joined Cheddar News to break down long Covid, in which Covid symptoms remain up to two years after infection; a phenomenon that has so far mystified health experts.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Malott, founder and chief architect at AI PlanetWorks joins Cheddar News to discuss the release of its augmented reality NFTs for the metaverse called 'TERA.'
A 2021 report from UK Research and Innovation found that the shipping industry makes up at least 2.5 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions. It's a problem that energy solutions company, Leclanché, is trying to solve. Founded in 1909, the company has been developing and producing batteries for more than 100 years. Today, Leclanché's lithium-ion battery is used to electrify not just ships, but also railroad locomotives, trucks, and specialty vehicles. Cheddar News spoke with Pierre Blanc, chief technology and industrial officer of Leclanché, to discuss.
