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How much downforce is produced by a Formula E electric car?

Formula E is pretty new to me, but I know that the cars are a little different—besides obviously not using gas engines. Are they as powerful as regular Formula 1 cars? And how much downforce can they produce?

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Jason Crosby · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Formula E cars are built a little differently than
Formula 1
cars, but the amount of downforce isn’t significantly less than traditional racing vehicles the sport uses. Formula E cars can generate about 3Gs of downforce (plenty) when being sprinted around a track. For those who aren’t aware of what downforce is, it might not make that much sense at first, but downforce is a gravitational resistance a car experiences as it accelerates.
To clarify, downforce is produced when the weight of the air moving around the vehicle outweighs the vehicle itself. This means that a car is moving so fast, that the air in front of it and around it creates a gravitational pressure, measured in Gs. While air resistance may not seem like a good thing, in the Formula 1 world, it’s useful.
Downforce helps a Formula racing vehicle corner at high speeds, and also helps the vehicle to reduce wear on the tires; the tread is slowly worn down as the frontward spinning wheels grip the asphalt surface of the track.
Formula 1 is all about the competition, and at
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