Green Fad Fades in Formula 1 (National Review, 03.23.10)

Posted by hpayne on March 23, 2010

It was green! It was revolutionary! It was proof that even the world’s fastest, most popular auto-racing body was committed to saving the planet! It is kaput.


The new Formula One season kicked off in Bahrain this month without the KERS hybrid-electric system (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) on board its screaming, 700-HP race cars. The much-hyped, “eco-friendly” technology only lasted a year.


KERS (a regenerative-braking gizmo that stored energy for quick bursts of instant power) proved expensive, complicated, and inconsequential. “F1 has to demonstrate that it has some green credentials,” says Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren, one of only two teams to successfully develop a KERS system. “But at the same time, in this economic climate everybody is looking to save costs. We have to be realistic.”


If only “realistic” were in the vocabulary of hybrid-obsessed, 35 mpg-mandating, green Washington.

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