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World's First 1 Megawatt All-Electric Race Car
New submitter MotoJ writes: A Latvian company has announced plans to race a one megawatt all-electric race car. It has a 50 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and is propelled by six YASA-400 electric motors. It provides 1020 kW (1368 hp) and a top speed of 260 km/h. It has a real chance to become the first overall winner of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competition with an electric vehicle. That's something to look forward to and curious who will pilot this machine. The race is on June 28, 2015.
The same company has an equally interesting all-electric off-road racer.
There have been plenty of 1MW electric cars built prior to this one. There is a company named Evnetics that makes a controller called the Shiva, it's capable of 1.2MW continuously, and there have been numerous drag cars built with it capable of exceeding the 1MW level in bursts. I've also run across EVs using multiple Zilla 2ks which have an output exceeding 1,000KW.
This may be the first AC motored car to exceed 1MW though.
Three minutes at 1400 HP is no small feat.
The Bugatti Veyron fuel tank last about 10 minutes at full power, and it's only 1000 hp.
... Its that pesky issue of energy storage!
Traditional ICE systems have it easy with the absolutely mind-boggling amount of energy that can be found in an ordinary tank of fuel. Who cares if you waste 80-90% of your energy heating the atmosphere when gas is a few bucks a gallon?
Dammit! You beat me to it!
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
I don't think that you and I have the same definition of race car. 'cause there are a lot of race cars that don't even get close to 160mph.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
with 1MW power, the 50KWh battery would be dead in 3 minutes at full throttle.. jeez.
Roughly equivalent to a gasoline car with a 2-gallon tank... lol. (1 gal=33KWh)
Do all these people posting 50kWh/1020kW 180s comments not understand racing? Or hybrid drive systems? Or Mountain roads? As TFA mentions, the Pikes Peak course contains over 150 turns, so you'll be off throttle or at partial throttle most of the time, especially with that much torque available, and regenerative braking will give some of it back.
Or perhaps the race car engineers that are building the race car don't know anything about the race they're building it for. That seems likely. /sarcasm
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It's not as bad as you imply, and newer engine designs are pushing the efficiency further as well. This doesn't mean that a reciprocating piston engine is incredibly efficient, but there's no sense in fabricating numbers to support a point either.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The only way to hit 160mph at Pike's Peak is vertically.
love is just extroverted narcissism
After the Sierra Club litigated to get the entire course paved, it's no longer the last holdout of Group B racing, and especially an electric misses the point of dealing with the altitude changes. An overall lap record at Nürburgring would be more impressive.
It would be more fitting to do a hard rest of all records from 2011 onward, as the elements that made it truly unique are about gone, and now it is just another technical road course instead of a nightmare of changes packed into 13 miles.
Any subsequent victory is just less impressive.
260 kph in real units is only 160 miles per hour
Which is plenty fast for Pikes Peak. When Sebastian Loeb set the record with his 900-hp car, his maximum speed on course was 150mph.
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with 1MW power, the 50KWh battery would be dead in 3 minutes at full throttle.. jeez. Roughly equivalent to a gasoline car with a 2-gallon tank... lol. (1 gal=33KWh)
Um...the car won't be going full woody all the way up the mountain. Due to the large amount of torque that the motors will likely be putting out, the driver will probably be feathering the throttle pretty lightly.....so it won't use that much power all at once...
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
3 minutes of max acceleration is a lot of go time.
3 minutes of glorious acceleration... and then?
Battery is dead...
Yea....in a straight line with no turns........but not the case here......
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
I've heard it's tires only last about 12 minutes at that speed? Sounds like a safety measure to me. :)
Source
And here's the onboad video, which is pretty amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y20CLumT2Sg
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It has the power to go as fast as the Bugatti, but (apparently) not the gearing. At 161mph it'll be using a heck of a lot less than 1MW, so the battery should last much longer than 3m.
The extra power *will* give it crazy acceleration even up steep inclines, which is far more useful on Pike's Peak than pure top speed.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
1020 kW, that's almost 1 MiW!
252mph in a straight line. Unless they're drag racing or on a course with lots of long straightways where that speed is actually obtainable, I'd imagine the low end torque from the electric car will probably help keep the average speeds pretty close.
Let's see how fast any of these cars make it up pike's peak. Apparently you have never heard of gearing.
In a NASCAR or a Formula 1 race you might be right about 160 being slow, but this car is being designed for a race that is 12.4 miles long with 150 turns in it. I doubt there'll be much opportunity to get above 100mph much less 160.
It will shine in two aspects. Electric cars are not affected by altitude. Gas burners get weaker the higher they go, turbo and superchargers can only do so much high up in the mountains. The other place will be coming out of the before mentioned 150 turns. Electric cars may not be able to beat down gas cars for top speed, this is typically due to having only 1 gear rather than a lack of engine power, but they absolutely destroy them on the hole shot. It will have 150 opportunities to take advantage of that acceleration. The gas burners won't know what hit them.
So? It's not an oval racer. It's built to a performance envelope defined by a specific event. The factors that are important here are acceleration, downforce, and mechanical grip; not top speed. Looking at the sketch in TFA, it's clear by the presence of the front wing that they're targeting massive downforce, which eats into top speed by creating drag.
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Its tires. my god. Why do i keep doing that =/
Well, it's an interesting analogy, because as you push performance with any technology, the less practical that feat becomes.
For example the Veryon can go 252 MPH, but only for about 12 minutes before it runs out of gas. Then you have to stop to put another 100 liters of gas in the tank. You'll also have to replace the $42,000 tire set because they've only got three minutes of life left in them.
I actually find the Formula-e races fun to watch, even though the speeds aren't that impressive the driving skill required is. Fan boost, however, is a total crock.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
curious who will pilot this machine?
How about if Google Car's auto driver races the electric car up Pikes Peak?
And if you run it back down from the top of Pike's Peak, it is recharged and ready to go again!
Try that with a gasoline-powered car.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Call me when someone makes a 1.21 Gigawatt electric race car.
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man still has no depth perception.
How many KWs of energy does it take to climb Pike's Peak? If my figures are right, if they take 10 minutes, then it would be about 25 KW just to lift the car straight up the 1.5 kilometers, not taking into consideration the twists and turns, wind resistance, etc.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Leobs car tops out at 260ish kph BECAUSE IT"S FUCKING GEARED THAT WAY LIKE THE ELECTRIC RACER. Put different gears in and the EC will go a fair bit faster. Oh BTW, some of the fastest race cars on the planet - Group B - had lowish top speeds. But they got there reaaaaaaaaaaaal goddamn quick.
You are a fucking idiot with no idea about cars.
We forgive you. Acknowledging the problem is the first step to curing it.
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
I think a big WhOOOOsh!! is in order here.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Which will NOT help you win the pike peak race.
What wins that, is great driving combined with great torque for quickness. br
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
yeah, go ahead.
In less than 5 years, anybody that owns an ICE car (save something like a Rolls) will find that it is next to worthless.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
No doubt, we will see a Tesla Dual on the track. That is night and day above the one that set the 12 minute EV production run. I would not be surprised to see this monster and a Model S owning the top 2 records.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Yes, pretty amazing. People are standing right next to the road where race cars are travelling at up to 150 mph.
If only the energy storage was practical. Gasoline has a GGE conversation of 33.41 kWh/gal. Reduce that to 1/4th as an ICE (running on gasoline) is only 25% efficient with the fuel.
If I can have a nuclear powered electric vehicle, I'm sold!!!
Life is not for the lazy.
NASCAR, some gay American race where they go round an oval track? Pathetic, F1 is real racing, NASCAR is racing for redneck incompetents who can only turn one way.
How many knots of distance does it take to get to 200 degrees?
This always helps...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
You deserve kudos for recognising it as a mistake. Sadly this puts you in a select group of English-speaking nations the world over. :(
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
Just think, you'd be in charge of the fastest race car on the planet if it could be powered by arrogance!
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
I'm not really into motorsport so that vid was new to me. I watched all eight and a half minutes of his run, absolutely transfixed. The level these drivers operate at is simply stunning to observe, thank you for the link.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
This person is apparently unaware of racing that isn't at the salt flats. There are entire classes of racing cars that don't go 150 even.
While you have a commendable grasp of physics, I think you are underestimating motorcycles. The OP might be hyperbolic if he has a stock motorcycle, but if he owns a competition drag motorcycle he is likely telling the truth. Also motorcycle tires have a peak COF of around 1.2, roughly the same as car tires.
So? Go out to Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI and you can see the crazies on their motorcycles at similar distances as well as other vehicles depending on the event (indy, various SCCA events. GT events, etc).
Time to offend someone
You've got your math wrong somehow.
1509 meter * 1260 kg * 9.8 m/s = 18 MJ = 5.2 kWh.
Honestly, modern Pike's Peak race is kinda lame. Full tarmac start to finish, sadly boring grip driving.
Tip your hat to the old pre-2011 Pike's Peak which was mostly gravel road with some tarmac when driving was far, FAR more intense. Here's the legendary Ari Vatanen run in the 405 T16 from the 1990.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Featuring some crazy stuff like driving that monster of a car with one hand while shielding eyes from the sun glare with another through turns at high speed.
Maybe if you don't factor in that almost all race cars that do Pikes Peak have turbochargers that are capable of shoving more air in the cylinders than they can handle.
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
Do you have a different gear box? 5 speed Miatas are gear limited at 125...
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
At least one aspect of an electric car is affected, cooling. As altitude increases, the efficiency of heat-sinks decreases. I hope they added some over-sized cooling fans, Apple didn't.
My Friends and I go to the motorcycle races at Road America every year, quite a good time.
Do people still put up the "Stoppie Here" stop sign shaped signs on the back corners for the victory lap showboating?
I haven't been out there for the motorcycle races in years but that was fairly common the last time I was out there for them. I got some nice photos of some of the better ones.
Time to offend someone
Ah, the mightywind that is afraid to be up front.
First, Multiple studies in the US show that we have PLENTY of power to charge 100% of our vehicles. Of course, that depends on 25% or less being done in the daytime. But hey, do not let facts get in your way.
Secondly, the charging infrastructure is already in place in America. All of our homes have electricity. As to long distance driving, Tesla will have the nation wired for high speed charging by end of 2017.
Here is a better map of what is going on at this time.
Third, in 2 years, Tesla will have a car that costs less than 35K, without the subsidies, does over 200 MPC, and is still high performance along with high quality. Why would anybody want to buy POSs when you have such a car? The answer is, that only idiots like you will.
Fourth, once demand rises for that kind of car, you can bet that used cars will plummet in value.
Still attached to the kock brothers pants? Gas prices are a NONE issue. Electric cars car are coming down in price so much that ICE cars will be too expensive to own at $2.00/gal.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Energy storage is NOT a problem with EVs. The price was.
.06/KWH through more than 95% of America. You charge the car at nighttime, and most every car drives less than 100 Miles / day so this works.
The hybrids and POS like I3 and Leaf go with very little distance so that they they can keep their profits up. Tesla has it right in making cars with swap-able batteries in which the primary battery has 200-250 MPC. Next year, Tesla will introduce a pack that you can rent that will allow you to get 400+ MPC, which is perfect for distance driving.
Now as to the costs and efficiency, EVs blow the doors off ICE. There is a reason why you can get nighttime electricity at
BTW, most EV drivers fully support Nuke reactors. We NEED good base-load power systems.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Doesn't say if they'll have a motor sound or it'll just be like a fast golf cart. Would be really humorous if it had engine noise.
Yes, pretty amazing. People are standing right next to the road where race cars are travelling at up to 150 mph.
So? People are standing right next to the road where race bikes are traveling at 200+ mph - (Isle of Man) Average is higher than measly 150mph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I'm an Isle of Man TT marshal. Specifically I'm the Deputy Sector Marshal for Cronk-Y-Voddy Crossroads where the superbikes flash past at around 180mph less than 2 feet away from the spectators!
Current TT absolute lap record holder Bruce Anstey set an average lap speed of 132.298mph In the 2014 Superbike race.
More to the point of the electrically powered racing theme of this thread, the TT festival also includes a single lap (37.74 mile) race for electric powered bikes called TT Zero and this race was won in 2014 by John McGuinness on a prototype Mugen Shinden setting a record breaking lap of 117.366mph average speed.
Compare that to this single lap demonstration run by rally driver Mark Higgins in a stock Subaru Impreza WRX STI at a very similar average speed to the electric bike. ICE engined bikes still hold a huge advantage in terms of range and a smaller advantage in terms of absolute speed, but the gap is closing.
I haven't seen any of those lately. I'll check when I'm out there at the end of May.
25%-30% efficiency in the engine isn't great, and that doesn't include the inefficiency of the fuel production/transportation.