Racing Films

Now that the 2021 Formula E season has started it is timely to have a look at ‘And We Go Green’ a documentary that sheds some green light on the origins and background to Formula E.   ‘And We Go Green’ self proclaims that it has the best film title ever.  The phrase “and we go green” is the catch phrase coined and used by formula E commentator Jack Nicholls at the start of every Formula E race. Whether the obvious double entendre linking the green lights at the start of the race and environmental benefits of electric racing constitute the best film title ever I will leave up to you.  More importantly the film does shed some light on both aspects of Formula E, racing and Formula E’s green intentions.  The environmental benefits of the series is something that one of the producers of this film, Leonardo DiCaprio, was keen to push.  He has been a champion for electric vehicles and has been driving a Prius powered by the polarity from his own magnetism for many years.  DiCaprio put significant funding into the film and makes a brief appearance to drink some glycerine.  To ensure the Formula E message reaches as many people as possible the film was made available to view for free all over the world.

Let’s start with the environmental intentions of Formula E as portrayed by the film.  Formula E is now the most popular and widely known form of electric racing on the planet.  I think most people understand the potential benefits of electric vehicles and the contribution they can make to reducing pollution caused by vehicle emissions.  In all other forms of motorsport, we constantly hear about the problems caused by ‘dirty air’ so it is a relief to have a racing category that has solved this.

Before watching this film, I always thought the Formula E circus turned up at one of their urban street circuits, plugged in to the local grid, charged the cars and went racing.  This as it turns out is not correct.  What actually happens is that Formula E bring a bunch of modified Cummins generators to the circuit and essentially set up their own power plant.  These generators are powered by a glycerine based fuel supplied by a company called Aquafuel.  The rationale for not tapping into the grid at each of the races is that these grids may not be environmentally friendly as they could be sourcing energy from nuclear, gas or coal generation, which is a fair point.  Whether Aquafuel is much better is something I found difficult to conclude, research on the glycerine based fuel was scarce and the information I could find was research undertaken by the Aquafuel company themselves, a situation I always treat with some caution.  Finding out more about the Aquafuel company is quite a deep rabbit hole but they do collaborate with a company called Quadrise Fuels International who have an interest in the development and testing of bio fuels and generators.  The film does not shed much green light on the technical aspects of the fuel or the generators but the good news is their fuel tastes much nicer than petrol.  Aquafuel’s fuel is so clean you can taste it without exploding and according to the film, it actually tastes quite nice.

For the most part the film portrays the Formula E story through the drivers.  The most prominent being, Luca DiGrassi, Andre Lotterer, Sam Bird, Nelson Piquet Jr and Jean Eric Verne.  The film gives us a pretty deep look at these drivers who provide some genuine thoughts on Formula E and their experiences in racing generally.  The problem with the narrative is that the main premise seems to be overcoming a perceived or real credibility problem for Formula E versus Formula 1.  Time and time again the film, mostly through the drivers, makes comparisons to Formula 1.  The main points being, Formula E cars are fast and getting faster, it is still risky, it is safer than F1 and the cars require a lot skill to drive. 

The point of comparison that is laboured the most is that the family or community of Formula E is nice and kinder than the F1 community.  The drivers that appear in the film have all been discarded from Formula 1 in one way or another and as a result carry significant chips on their shoulders.   Unquestionably the money, politics and stakes in Formula 1 mean that to win, at times people will behave like “sharks”, to quote Sam Bird, and this results in people getting treated harshly.  But in comparison Formula E is new, some of the rivalries, off track dealing and scandals are probably yet to play out.  One thing is obvious though, as Formula E and electric racing in general gets more popular, attracting more sponsors and manufacturers the stakes will only get higher.  Drivers should try and enjoy the nice times while they last.  Maybe there is an environmental benefit as well, not only is Formula E saving the planet by progressing EV technology and exploring greener fuels, they are also recycling drivers that would otherwise have joined the immense piles of accumulated human waste scattered across the planet.

To conclude, film is OK, it does give us an interesting insight to the background of Formula E and also gives us a relatively entertaining look at some of the characters involved.  The downside is the film is constantly trying to address a perceived credibility problem in the racing world which paradoxically only throws the issue further into the big green spotlight.  In the end the overall message is clear, the world has changed, electric vehicles and racing will be part of our future so if you haven’t already, get on board, it is a fun ride.  To quote Clive James from a few years back, “The pressure on industry and even on government is already helping to persuade Hollywood stars that they should drive hybrid cars. Ultimately, we’ll do what Leonardo DiCaprio does, because we’ll be seduced by language, not because we know very much about how carbon dioxide keeps in the planets heat”.  Just don’t listen to Leo when he says we should all drink bio fuels…bad idea…”burrrp!”