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Comment by unglaublich | Hacker News Reader

Because electric engines are more performant than gas ones so you can in theory have better driving perfomrance? I.e., high, flat and predictable torque curve, re-use braking energy (so it adds up to ICE), extremely high energy density of the engine unit.

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All that, yes. But they don't work too well if the battery runs out halfway down the straight... and there is too little charging.

I wasn't politicizing E vs ICE... but commenting on the particular specifications these rules mandate for F1. Specifications that are not fit for purpose.

There's no reason the battery should run out on the straight, though. You can charge at any point while driving, not just during braking. Obviously you're taking torque from the engine to do so, but that's a strategic consideration.

> Obviously you're taking torque from the engine to do so, but that's a strategic consideration.

but drivers dislike do not being in control the harvesting and deployment (which apparently would be too complex to be manual), while fans dislike cars clipping out on straights.

Regenerative brakes (maybe even on front wheels!) would be great, but they are not enough to charge the battery given the current split. MGU-H was also a great invention, but was phased out apparently for complexity.

Next year the power output split will be tweaked to make clipping less extreme, but won't solve allt he issues.

Regeneration happens directly on the crankshaft via the mgu-k, not the wheels. The mgu is essentially a governor, so you can set it to add or sink (absorb) torque however you like. If you're adding torque, you're draining the battery, and if you're sinking torque, you're charging the battery. Because everything is mechanically connected, sinking torque also wants to brake the car (i.e. regenerative braking).

In terms of power balance, on average, the draw needs to match generation for the system to work. Since this a race, the battery should be flat when you cross the finish line, because you don't want to leave power on the table. When cars are clipping out on the straights, they're trying to claw back some power for the battery so they can deploy it at a more impactful moment in the race. Maybe it's frustrating for viewers, but part of that is that the vehicle has a maximum sustained power, and a maximum total power, and those aren't the same thing.

The mgu-h was cool, but I believe the teams when they say that it was too difficult and too expensive to get right.

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