Electric Race Car vs the Fastest Animal on Earth. Who Wins?

What happens when you pit a racecar from Formula E against nature's fastest creature? Well, as the motorsporting world is revving up for the fourth season of Formula E that will begin on 2nd December in Hong Kong, the FIA released a video to show us the outcome of that race.

The scene is set in Western Cape, South Africa, and Jean-Eric Vergne, who drives for Team Techeetah, takes the wheel against the magnificent cheetah. Both car and kitty can reach 62mph from standstill in just 3 seconds, but that is about the top speed for the animal. The maximum speed for the mechanical beast, on the other hand....nah, we don't want to give the ending away. Watch the beautifully shot video instead:

So, if you've watched till the end, you'd see the message they had sneaked in about climate change and the suggestion that electrically powered cars are a (if not the) solution. (Some of us would disagree. Read The Inconvenient Truth about Banning Petrol Engines.) That aside, this kind of "stunt" is exactly what gets the younger motorsports fans excited.

Formula E may be the "new kid" that is not so fast and definitely not as loud as Formula 1, and viewing numbers have been shaky since it started in 2014; yet it has somehow attracted some of the biggest names in racing, including BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Nissan Nismo, who all have announced their involvement in the series for future seasons.

Just recently, Hugo Boss severed ties with Formula 1 (it was partnering the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team) to move on to Formula E. Its CEO, Mark Langer, was quoted by a German publication as saying: "Of course Formula One is the top class of motor racing, but Formula E is more innovative and sustainable." Formula E is also cheaper, although Lager insisted that the cost was not the reason for the switch.

Oh, in case you think that Techeetah has anything to do with the big cat, it doesn't. Techeetah is a Chinese-owned team that made its debut last season, and the name in Chinese is pronounced "tai-chi-ta"; "tai" means titanium while "chi" is a mythical creature that is very much the Chinese version of a unicorn. Still, the similarity in the names of the team and animal is a happy coincidence.

The video has been well received; oh, and we must point out the top voted comment on the video is: I WANNA PET THE KITTY. So do we. We're pretty sure that some kind of CGI was involved, but we won't know for sure until they release the behind-the-scenes video, which they promise will come soon. We'll keep you updated if it is worth updating...