Why Formula E’s beautiful Gen2 cars owe debt of gratitude to these ugly University of Hong Kong electric vehicles from the 1980s
- Former HKU undergrad KT Chau had a vision 30 years ago that electric cars could be better
- Now a professor, Chau helped pioneer cutting-edge technology that inspired Tesla and Formula E
The little electric car presented by the University of Hong Kong in 1982 might look somewhat forlorn next to the screaming muscle of the “Gen2” Formula E machines.
But the stunning track cars of the all-electric racing series, which returns to Hong Kong tomorrow, owe a debt of gratitude to engineers of the 1980s who transformed electric vehicle (EV) technology from dreary drays towards something people might actually want to drive.
Even as an undergraduate in the 1980s, professor KT Chau had a vision that electric cars could be better. Now head of HKU’s electrical and electronic engineering department, Chau has worked on EVs his entire career, and maintains a passion for cutting-edge EV technology.
Today, he is working on encrypted energy for wireless vehicle charging, and magnetic differentials to enable magnetic steering and true all-wheel drive … a long journey from building the first EV battery metre for Hong Kong’s Mark1 electric car.
“People in the 1980s didn’t feel electric vehicles had a future, they considered they’re slow, the range is short,” Chau said. Many people associated EVs with the milk float, he said, talking about the ponderous electric wagons which plied predawn British streets delivering milk. “Nobody was going to buy that.”
