Monster Tajima preparing an electric race car for the 2012 Pike's Peak Hill Climb

Sesshoumaru

I just thought this was an interesting story, will EV beat ICE on this particular track?

http://www.gizmag.com/monster-tajima-electric-pikes-peak-bev/22119/

He might look like a friendly old Japanese grandpa with a crazy giggle, but Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima is the undisputed king of the mountain that matters: Pike's Peak in Colorado. For the last six years, Monster has dominated one of the world's most spectacular and death-defying hill climb races in a series of ever-crazier souped-up Suzuki race cars. This year, it seems he's found one more mountain to climb: the 62 year-old has announced he'll be taking a fully electric race car to Pike's Peak in 2012. Could this be the year that a battery car beats the petrol brigade?

...

Either way, the electric field is sure to be strong this year, with Toyota bringing across the TMG EV P001 – the car that just set an electric record of 7:47 around the Nordschliefe circuit at Germany's Nürburgring.

You have to wonder how long it'll be before high-powered electrics push combustion cars off the podium altogether – and whether old Monster will still be grinning madly from behind the wheel when they do. We wish Tajima and the APEV team all the best!

Jimbob 83

Class

conzy

Looks unreal, wont be long before an electric yoke has the fastest ring time id say

Mr Benevolent

conzymaher wrote: »

Looks unreal, wont be long before an electric yoke has the fastest ring time id say

Fair enough, in terms of performance a electric motor can far out perfom an ICE. All that energy being wasted pushing cylinders up and down is silly. ICE for standard cars will be seen as outmoded in the next ten years. 5K off the Leaf lately too.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Yeah but how long a charge before you can go do another lap.....:)

unkel

Confab wrote: »

in terms of performance a electric motor can far out perfom an ICE. All that energy being wasted pushing cylinders up and down is silly.

And no time wasted by having to switch gears

Confab wrote: »

5K off the Leaf lately too.

Just checked and you're right. From €25,595 it now says on their website. That's roughly the same as a base Golf diesel. I suppose this deserves its own thread, but I reckon it might be a game changer. (so long as the taxpayer is prepared to keep paying the €5,000 subsidy to the Leaf buyer)

ongarite

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Half the fun of a race car is hearing the noise, feeling the vibration, the smell of petrol/oil and dealing with things like matching revs on downshifts etc. All these things dont apply to a electric and hence I have no interest

The noise from the Toyota EV in the video above was savage. As the speed picked up the noise got better and better IMO.

Anan1

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Regardless of lap times a electric race car will never have the appeal of a ICE race car.

Half the fun of a race car is hearing the noise, feeling the vibration, the smell of petrol/oil and dealing with things like matching revs on downshifts etc. All these things dont apply to a electric and hence I have no interest

Do you miss manual ignition timing too, grandpa?:D

ShadowHearth

Just checked the video... Feels like a fast milk float, or what you call it.
I agree with lightning that sound makes a lot of difference with cars. Damn even look at American V8, is it efficient? No. Does it sound like the most beautifull music in the world? **** yeah.

Atomic Pineapple

ongarite wrote: »

The noise from the Toyota EV in the video above was savage. As the speed picked up the noise got better and better IMO.

You just made baby jesus cry, it sounds terrible!!

Sesshoumaru

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Just checked the video... Feels like a fast milk float, or what you call it.
I agree with lightning that sound makes a lot of difference with cars. Damn even look at American V8, is it efficient? No. Does it sound like the most beautifull music in the world? **** yeah.

What is considered a good sound is a bit subjective. But I can't see any reason why EV race cars can't be tweaked to sound like whatever we want them to sound like. I kind of like this idea

http://bit.ly/HDrF0h

The groundswell towards an all-electric version of Formula 1 is growing iRacer: quiet but speedy

"REMEMBER the futuristic hum the Pod Racers made in Star Wars Episode 1? That's the kind of sound we want our electric racing cars to make." So says the man who is building a fleet of cars for the EV Cup, the world's first racing championship for electric vehicles. If all goes to plan, it will kick off at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, California on 26 November.

Sesshoumaru

unkel wrote: »

And no time wasted by having to switch gears



Just checked and you're right. From €25,595 it now says on their website. That's roughly the same as a base Golf diesel. I suppose this deserves its own thread, but I reckon it might be a game changer. (so long as the taxpayer is prepared to keep paying the €5,000 subsidy to the Leaf buyer)

I posted the price drop in an existing generic EV thread Must start a new thread on it soon! I would say more price cuts could be possible next year as production of the Nissan Leaf for Europe starts in Sunderland next year.

http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-gears-leaf-production-uk-113789.html

Rising demand for the LEAF means that its lone production facility in Oppama, Japan can't keep up. Fortunately for Nissan, US-built LEAFs will enter the pipeline in late 2012 and UK-manufactured LEAFs will follow by the end of 2013.

SouperComputer

An EV should be competitive. It's a relatively short run and the air density is naff putting the ICE at less than optimal, including forced induction.

galwaytt

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Regardless of lap times a electric race car will never have the appeal of a ICE race car.

Half the fun of a race car is hearing the noise, feeling the vibration, the smell of petrol/oil and dealing with things like matching revs on downshifts etc. All these things dont apply to a electric and hence I have no interest

...you say that now: if EV's end up being at the front of the grid, more often, and eventually most often, then your very raison d'etre for going racing in the first place will probably need scrutiny.....(sic )...........

...didn't we all say that about 'daysuls' and how they'd never match a petrol car. Humble pie alround. I distinctly remember someone in the Porsche Club betting me that PAG would never put a diesel in one of their cars. Double helpings of humble pie alround there, too................not to mention PAG's hybrid racers........

And, in the motorcycle world, EB bikes are already racing on the TT, and John McGuinness is out to breack the 100mph average on one, this year.........on a factory Honda EB.

I understand completely about the sounds, smell, etc. But as soon as the Focus came out, we all abandoned driving Model T's

Sesshoumaru

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Well thankfully we wont see them in F1 for a while! They can run these electric hairdryers in the GT classes in the meantime:pac:

Not so long until we get Formula E I think

http://www.emotorsportnews.com/on-track/2012/03/australian-circuits-considered-for-formula-e-demonstration/

Some great news today from Albert Park, Australia ahead of the F1GP this weekend – it looks like our Antipodean friends could see some electric racing action in the very near future. Garry Connelly, Deputy President of the FIA Institute announced that the circuit is being considered as a potential host for a round of the all-electric Formula E series. It’s no more than a consideration at this stage, with 2013 being heralded as a demonstration year before the full championship in 2014, but it is very encouraging to see electric racing getting a mention when all eyes are focused on the F1 circus.

This article has a lot of interesting news relating to Formula E and other EV racing developments, worth a read I think.

http://www.ecomagination.com/electric-race-cars-drayson

Today’s automakers could do the same for electric cars by bringing them to the track, advises Lord Paul Drayson, managing partner at U.K.-based Drayson Racing Technologies. The company recently unveiled a 200-plus-mph (322-plus-kph) electric race car built to demonstrate systems that are intended for use in the forthcoming Formula E Championship, a new EV-racing series that the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) plans for next year (pdf).

Flesh Gorden

The 'TT zero' series is very odd to watch

No real sound as the bikes approached, and only a woooosh sound as they went past


I like EV's, I spent years driving various battery powered forklifts, pallet trucks, scissor lifts and it's a cool feeling having instant silent power

But I don't think I could get excited about any current race series if they went 100% electric
It would feel like watching the tour de france (minus the steroids)


They made an hour long documentary called 'Charge' that was included as an extra on the 'TT3D Closer to the Edge' documentary about the 'TT Zero' series in 09' and 10'

http://youtu.be/rogV80QfLYQ

Well worth watching, it features a complete eccentric English designer whose motors form the base of the bikes power-plant,
and teams that consisted of students vs. engineers working out of a shed vs. cocky Americans with major corporate sponsoring who failed miserably

Sesshoumaru

Another EV entry for Pike's Peak

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/05/16/retrofitted-bmw-m3-electric-will-compete-in-pikes-peak-race/

A 1995 BMW M3 has been retrofitted with a 420-horsepower electric motor and will compete in the "electric" heat in this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, aka the 90th Race to the Clouds.