Formula E racing circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- Race cars will fill New York City streets for the Formula E event this weekend.
Some of the fastest cars in the world will zoom through the streets of Brooklyn on a track in Red Hook, but you probably won't hear a thing, CBS2's Steve Overmyer reported Thursday.
The streets around the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal are being transformed into a Formula E circuit. The cars are quick and quiet.
"It does make a really cool, futuristic noise. You hear the carbon fiber rubbing when you're in close proximity to each other. You hear the tires locking up," Formula E driver Sam Bird said. "There's so many noises that you hear that you wouldn't hear in a normal environment."
Bird is the defending champion. In fact, in the five years this race has been run, he's won three.
"New York brings out my best. I love this city. I love coming here. It's very special," Bird said. "Pound for pound, this is the most challenging grid on the planet in terms of driver skill."
The "E" in Formula E racing stands for electric. Formula E cars have no fuel, just batteries. Each car has a finite amount of power, so it's up to the team to decide when to give it more. These races are a mix of aggression and efficiency.
"Everybody's done their simulation to work out just how quickly and how much energy they need to use per lap," Bird said. "It's a game of chess. This sport is like the fastest game of chess in the world."
The race is just 45 minutes long. But since the cars don't need fuel, they don't need a pit stop. Since they're electric, there's no shifting.
"It's a single-gear car?" Overymer asked.
"Most of them, yes, because you have the same power everywhere," said sporting director Fred Espinos.
"Do you think that that makes this car possibly quicker than the highest level series?" asked Overmyer.
"Pure acceleration, if you go on the very short period, yeah, it's one of the quickest cars that we have," Espinos said.
It flies in the face of the general belief electric cars are slow. Formula E has been pushing boundaries of innovation for transportation and beyond for years.
"We're conscious of all big challenge that climate change is producing in our lives, in the future as well. So we decided to create something that helps promoting electromobility," Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo said.
The concept is no longer futuristic. It takes tech and racing to the edge.