Blokko Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 For the internal combustion engine. Turned up to my local sprint circuit today and there was an electric power Westfield competing With Formula E now in place, how long will it be before the sight of electrically powered vehicles at competition level will become commonplace, or is this just a flash in the pan? A few pics from the day here - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202467756724479.1073741849.1511311827&type=1&l=27d8dc0162 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2k7 Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Hmmmmm, formula 1 went to a V6 & buggered the sound -- people left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road SHO Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Can't they just use one of those cigarette lighter thingies that counts the revolutions of the alternator, converts it to revolutions of the crank and then creates a big block sound that is piped into your sound system? That would be a small price to pay to have the manly sound in a girly car. :-) Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Here's my opinion. No flash in the pan because electric cars do make sense in some situations (second car, stays in the urban areas) but it's gonna be a long time before electrics make up a large fraction of the fleet on the road. Look at the daily consumption of petroleum, most of which goes to power vehicles. Then look at the increase of electricity needed to replace that. That adds a lot of generating capacity and grid infrastructure. ( I'm not running the numbers but it's circa a factor of two) Now add the politics. In the US and many Western countries, the ability to make cheap electricity is being curtailed. We have a President who ran on a platform of: "Under my administration, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket". Coal burning power plants (the lowest cost) are being targeted and he appointed an anti-nuke activist to head the NRC. Or were you referring to just motorsports? I see an ethical problem there. Battery lifetime is a strong function of depth of discharge. Cranking batteries last thousands of cycles because they are only run down a small fraction of max discharge. Drag racing (several electric examples) is REALLY HARD on the batteries because of the high current, deep discharge. Call it 10 cycles before you have to replace the batteries. Other motorsports, not as bad, but not indicative of street performance if you don't replace the batteries twice a year. Sorry if this is a thread jack. Feel free to tell me to go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subtlez28 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I'm looking forward to the EV motorsports taking off. But, would agree the battery tech is a hold up. I ran some electric go karts in an indoor track. It was actually pretty cool to lose the small engine noise (not quite the V-8's song). It was cool to hear what the mechanicals and tires were doing. I'll road race an EV when it becomes practical! I would also like to see EV off road vehicles. Again, not sweet sounding rigs generally speaking (6 cylinder Jeeps and small engine UTVs). Plus nature is there to enjoy, so silent running would help the experience there. Again, though, I don't think we will be there for a bit. But, I would be up for experimenting when costs come down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I would own a Zero electric motorcycle, except the price is unreasonable. http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 Or were you referring to just motorsports? ...... Sorry if this is a thread jack. Feel free to tell me to go away. No apology needed - I actually like posts that branch and meander I had motorsport in mind. I think in both the UK and US there is a steady uptake of hybrid technology for on-road use, but out and out battery power is some way off. So used to seeing hybrid internal combustion / battery technology on the roads - but it was a real "stop you in your tracks moment" (for me anyhow) to see an electric vehicle in competition with traditionally powered Sevens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 At the Isle of Man they have a cycle class for EVs. They do one lap (about 36 miles) and the winning average speed was 109MPH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Some of you Westie guys may know the owner of this car from the WSCC site. Spotted this post of his from earlier in the year - http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/107905-electric-westfield-at-croft/ Looking at his time, he beat about half of the class 1 Caterham contingent and as it appears he is new to sprinting there are probably lower times to be had with a bit more experience. I'll miss Curborough when I'm in the US - a great (free) place to go and watch petrolheads hoon their cars around a tight little sprint circuit. It is a skill circuit rather than a power circuit and it is common for people at the top of a lower powered class to be faster than the middle of the field who are in a class or two above (as can be seen from the timesheet here - http://www.lotussevenclub.com/Portals/0/documents/CompetitorsKorner/Curborough/Curborough%202%202014.pdf ) Fast Caterham on the traditional circuit - Fast (slightly ragged) Westie from this weekend on the figure of eight - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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