Jalopnik: bmw racing

KERS Electric Shock Explained; Watch Your Pencil Protectors

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:40:00 EDT

According to BMW Sauber, the reason behind the KERS electric-shock incident, seen above, which occurred during testing at the Jerez Speedway, was magic. Or at least, that's what the formal explanation looks like if you don't have a solid knowledge of electrical engineering. We're pretty good at chasing sparks and figuring out circuits, but wading through the engineer-speak is a toughy here. After slipping on our decoder ring, it sounds like the combination of a bad KERS controller and a leaky capacitor led to some extra electrons floating around. Deadly? No. Enough to shock the crap out of someone, though. See if you can decode it yourself; key quote below the fold.

"The mechanic suffered an electric shock after touching the sidepod and steering wheel of the car. There was a high frequency AC voltage between these contact points, the cause of which has been traced back to the KERS control unit and a sporadic capacitive coupling from the high-voltage network to the 12-volt network. The voltage ran through the wiring of the 12-volt network to the steering wheel and through the carbon chassis back to the control unit."

See, we told you: Magic. [F1-Live]

Here's What Being Electrocuted By A Formula One Race Car KER System Looks Like

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:20:00 EDT

Remember when that mechanic for BMW Sauber's F1 team got electrocuted after he touched their KERS-equipped (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) Formula One car? Now we've got video. True, it wasn't enough to kill the poor guy, but still a pretty rough day if you're that mechanic, right? No, there weren't any giant lightning bolts emanating from the car as we had hoped, but "shocking" nonetheless. [Gridcrasher]

F1 Hybrid System Zaps BMW Mechanic

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

BMW Sauber Racing was out testing their kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), a hybrid setup mandated for the 2009 Formula One season, when a mechanic pushing the car got zapped. Thankfully, the guy wasn't seriously injured, but it seems all of the new-fangled gizmo-gadgetry associated with KERS has been acting up a bit lately.

About a week ago, Red Bull Racing was forced to evacuate their garage as the battery pack associated with their KERS system went wrong, threatening fire and explosion. Of course, this kind of news makes us think the next F1 season may actually be interesting to watch. Sure, the sport is great fun when guys other than Schumi are winning, but nothing draws eyeballs like fireballs. [AutoSport]