Monday, November 7, 2011

Brigham Young students set electric land speed record with their electric car

Brigham Young University officials have announced that their student-built electric car has set another Bonneville speed record.  The car, nicknamed “Electric Blue” was built by BYU engineering students and was competing in the Streamliner E1 class.  The BYU team had no problem busting the 130 MPH barrier. Their two runs had an average speed of 155.8 MPH with one of the runs clocking in at blazing 175 MPH.

Bullet-shaped electric car sets speed record

American Students Set New Electric Vehicle Land Speed Record

 

Friday, November 4, 2011

Drayson Racing teams with Vantage Power to develop electric race cars

Last year Vantage Power built an electric race car and drove it the full length of the Pan-American Highway in an endurance challenge.  Now they are teaming up with Drayson Racing to develop high performance electric cars.

Drayson Racing is the racing team formed by Lord Drayson, they race in gas races and for the last couple years have been working on electric race cars. 

They'll be focusing on high power long range EV development.  The quip for a long time is you can have fast, or you can go for distance, but you can't do both at the same time.  To do both at the same time would require an enormous battery pack.


Drayson Racing, Vantage Power & the RAC Future Car Challenge

Drayson Racing and Vantage Power team up to tackle the RAC Future Car Challenge and develop ultra high performance electric cars.

Enter first electric vehicle to drive the entire length of the Pan-American Highway in Brighton to London Challenge.

Form Technical Partnership to develop electric drivetrains with high performance and endurance
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Drayson Racing Technologies LLP, the leading green racing R&D business, has teamed up with Vantage Power Ltd, the team behind the world record breaking SRZero electric car that last year drove the 26,000km Pan-American Highway in 70 days as part of the Racing Green Endurance project. Together, they will tackle the 60 mile RAC Future Car Challenge Race from Brighton to London on November 5th 2011, and look forward to a series of exciting events in the future.

Vantage Power Ltd and Drayson Racing Technologies LLP also announced today the formation of an official technical partnership which aims to combine Vantage Power’s experience in extreme endurance runs with Drayson Racing’s know how in high performance motorsport, to develop drive trains for electric vehicles with both high performance and long range.

The SRZero will be driven in the RAC Future Car Challenge by the co-founder of Drayson Racing, former Science Minister and Le Mans racing driver Lord Paul Drayson, and the Head of Imperial College’s Energy Futures Laboratory Prof Nigel Brandon.

Quotes:

Paul Drayson said:
“For electric cars to really take off we need to show that they can offer the performance and range that consumers expect from modern cars. Although 60 miles is a lot less than the 26,000 km that the Vantage Power team achieved last year – and the 70 mph speed limit a bit less than the 220 mph plus we target when racing, it will be fun driving the car and competing in this exciting event. Participating in the RAC Future Car Challenge is a great way to showcase the experience and know how that Drayson Racing and Vantage Power bring in developing electric cars that offer both high performance and long range.”

Alexander Schey, Managing Director of Vantage Power, said:
“After completing the Pan-American challenge with the SRZero, Vantage Power is looking forward to the collaboration with Drayson Racing, and building upon its extensive experience by applying it to the vanguard of the high performance electric vehicle industry. The RAC Future Car Challenge, though different to the style of driving both Vantage Power and Drayson racing are used to, will demonstrate our desire to participate in a range of events as well as our motivation to win them!”