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."
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Founder of Unlimited Tomorrow breaks down how he is creating completely 3D printed prosthetics to make them more affordable, customizable, and accessible; Chief Technology Officer of Zebra Technologies explains what the future of collaboration between robots and humans may look like; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'Mystery of the Roman Skulls.'
Each year about 5,000 people are diagnosed with ALS. This is such an important conversation. A disease that can weaken a patient's muscles and impact physical function. However, one research company says that could all change soon. Coya Therapeutics has developed a way to isolate a patient problematic T-cells in order to help ultimately slow the decline of not just ALS, but potentially Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases as well. Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Coya Therapeutics, Dr. Howard Berman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
In the fight against climate change, much of the conversation revolves around reducing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane - and attempting to raise oxygen levels. But there's another gas - hydrogen - that could play a big role in the fight for the climate. Marco Alvera, CEO of Italian energy infrastructure company Snam and author of the book, 'The Hydrogen Revolution,' joined Cheddar Climate to explain the role hydrogen plays in helping achieve a net-zero future.
Americans looking to purchase at-home COVID-19 tests will now have to shell out a bit more money after an agreement expired between the White House and companies to sell the tests at cost. The price of Abbot's BinaxNow test kit from October to December was $14 apiece; on Tuesday, Walmart's website listed the test for $19.88, and Kroger listed the tests for $23.99. Carbon Health Regional Clinical Director Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the impact higher prices will have as the nation experiences another surge in cases.
As millions of kids go back to school, districts across the country are determined to keep class in person, despite a surge in COVID cases. In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to keep the nation's largest school system open amid Omicron, citing the disastrous effect of remote learning on students. Oswald Feliz, NYC council member who sits on the health and education committee, joined Cheddar to discuss the city's plan to combat the recent surge and keep kids in school.
Schools across the country are determined to keep class in session, despite the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant. While many parents prefer in-person learning, they also worry whether the current public health guidelines will be enough to protect their kids. Erin Richards, national education reporter for USA Today, joined Cheddar to discuss how are schools are preparing for the surge to avoid another round of remote learning.
With the annual CES convention underway amid COVID, HP unveiled rolled out a number of new products virtually this year, including new gaming PCs and 4K display monitors. But as industries look toward a greener future, HP is working with the climate crisis in mind. James McCall, chief sustainability officer at HP, joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to discuss the company's climate goals, which includes reducing its carbon footprint to net-zero by 2040. He admitted that reaching the ambitious goal will be difficult because much of the company's emissions totals come from third parties. "A large part of our footprint is outside of HP's direct control. A lot of it comes either from our incoming supply chain, the materials, our manufacturing process, or about 30 to 40 percent of it comes from our consumer-use base," McCall told Cheddar.
Pfizer and BioNTech are working to develop an mRNA-based shingles vaccine following the success of the COVID-19 shot. This latest collaboration will mark the third time the pharmaceutical companies have worked together on a vaccine.
The potential collapse of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica has been deemed a potential "doomsday event" — researchers and scientists say its melting and collapse could raise global sea levels by at least two feet, enough to destroy coastal communities around the world. One team of scientists is traveling to the Thwaites glacier to drill below in order to gauge current ocean temperatures and attempt to model possible outcomes. David Holland, professor at NYU and Principal Investigator for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss the glacier's potential collapse, his team's research plan, and more.
As winter break wraps up and COVID-19 cases hit record levels, the majority of school districts are returning to in-person classes. While some public schools in large cities have shifted to remote learning for the beginning of the year, the schools that are reopening campuses are determined to avoid the academic, social, and logistical challenges that come with a virtual classroom. Cheddar News is joined by Keith Powers, NYC Council Member, to discuss.
