Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson sees Formula E as a driving force behind the goal of making the world carbon neutral by '50. Branson, who joined the fully electric racing series with his Virgin Racing team, said that Formula E will pioneer new technology, which can then be used in ordinary cars. "I hope 10 years from now, 20 years from now the smell of exhaust will be as much a thing of the past as the smell of cigarettes at a restaurant," he said. "That's where we have to get to." Formula E, which made its U.S. debut in Miami on Saturday, has the opportunity to showcase electric cars in a way that might help create demand and, as a result, contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality by ’50. Branson believes that many people do not realize that electric cars can go 140 mph and look "sexy."
PUSHING TECHNOLOGY: While Branson does not know what kind of technological breakthroughs will make it into ordinary passenger cars, he is certain that it will happen. "By having all that manpower and all that finance and energy put into it, there will be breakthroughs that will make a big difference to ordinary electric-driven cars for the public," he said. Arguably the biggest obstacle electric vehicles have to overcome is limited range. The current market leader in the category is Tesla’s Model S with a range of 265 miles. Tesla Founder Elon Musk and Branson are already in competition through their respective space programs, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. The British billionaire also does not rule out the electric vehicle market becoming another field of competition. “Well, we compete with Tesla in space and who’s to know -- perhaps in space one day -- maybe we will compete with them in electric cars. We will see,” he said. Branson is confident that batteries will soon be capable of far greater distances and speed and if that is case, he said, it is up to manufacturers to realize that they have to start making more electric cars. “The demand is definitely there to do that,” he said. “It’s through these sort of pioneering events [such as Formula E] that people around the world think maybe my next car could be electric.”
