Question: Is there one thing in this car that better than other cars? What is it?

Nathan Quinlan answered on 11 Feb 2015:

Hi Antony

No one thing, but a lot of little things. It’s very light (the driver is heavier than the whole car) and has a clear aerodynamic shape. The motor and the gears are designed carefully to make sure the motor runs as efficiently as possible. Also it’s designed so it won’t have to slow down to go around corners under competition conditions – that means it has to be low and wide so it won’t roll over. Braking and speeding up again can use up a lot of energy.

Everything is designed for ultimate energy/fuel efficiency under the very abnormal conditions of the competition we are entering. For normal road use, it wouldn’t be a safe or practical car! But neither is a formula 1 car. Ordinary road cars have be strong in a high-speed crash, they have to be more powerful, they have to have big comfy seats and so on, and all that makes them use more energy. But there are very special conditions in the competition we’ll race in- a very safe street circuit with no traffic and gentle corners and lowish speeds of 25 km/hr. For that, it’s a better car.