Electric vehicles

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#1333508 29-Jun-2015 15:35

old3eyes: Anyone see Top Gear USA on Saturday?? The who program was devoted to EVs from the basic Leaf to Electric drags. Dispite the program being 2 years old they gave EVs the thumbs up with the only reservation being rang. Man the Tesla they took for a drive could sure go fast..

The reversing speeds were quite appealing ;)

dwl

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#1333688 29-Jun-2015 21:04

A bit more history made today: Rhys Millen wins Pikes Peak under all-electric power. "Under perfect conditions, Rhys Millen was the first to win the race with an electric racer, and set a new record time (for battery-powered cars) of 9:07.222. Underlining the rise of electric machines, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima drove his Rimac-engineered e-Runner up America's Mountain in 9.32.401, to capture second place."

Getting rather insane now with 1MW in the engines. Interesting (not verified) comment "Rhys Millen's time today was 53 seconds shy of the all time record set 2 years ago. But what was amazing is that he did his time today for the win after he lost the rear motor half way through the run. He could have easily shaved off another 30 seconds for a very safe 2nd fastest run of all time. Five more years or so and there won't be an ICE that will ever win again."

Scott3

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#1333738 29-Jun-2015 21:55

Scoreboard here

Just watched the video: here (its in 60fps too)

That's a pretty awesome machine

"The eO PP03 produces 1020 kW (1367 hp) peak power thanks to a 50 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and six YASA-400 electric motors with in-house developed eO controllers."

Also of interest, the driver Rhys Millen was born in NZ

kemosabe

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#1333771 29-Jun-2015 22:20

Impressive from a speed point of view yes. But I have to say to me, it’s not much fun to watch (or listen to).

EV cars will get so fast soon that a man cannot drive them to their full potential. Will we eventually be watching self-drive cars racing? At some point soon there will be a grey area between the two. Even formula 1 is less and less about good drivers and more about technology and who can afford it.

Motor-racing to me is something like this (skip in 5 mins).

Not bashing. I have a hybrid and embrace technology. It’s great for efficiency but EV motorsport? Not for me.

dwl

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#1333791 29-Jun-2015 23:29

old3eyes: Anyone see Top Gear USA on Saturday?? The who program was devoted to EVs from the basic Leaf to Electric drags. Dispite the program being 2 years old they gave EVs the thumbs up with the only reservation being rang. Man the Tesla they took for a drive could sure go fast..

Thanks for the tip - for others who want to view, managed to watch via SkyGo (if you subscribe to Sky).

dwl

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#1333793 29-Jun-2015 23:46

kemosabe: Impressive from a speed point of view yes. But I have to say to me, it’s not much fun to watch (or listen to).

EV cars will get so fast soon that a man cannot drive them to their full potential. Will we eventually be watching self-drive cars racing? At some point soon there will be a grey area between the two. Even formula 1 is less and less about good drivers and more about technology and who can afford it.

Motor-racing to me is something like this (skip in 5 mins).

Not bashing. I have a hybrid and embrace technology. It’s great for efficiency but EV motorsport? Not for me.

Fair enough if not for you.

Participating in motorsport for me was at club level and the thrill was in the seat of the pants acceleration, cornering and picking the slightly better lines and later braking than your competitor. The only bit missing (probably more correctly not missing but different) with an EV seems to be the sound.

A common response from those who have driven the higher performing EVs is surprise and enjoyment from the high torque. When combined with the low centre of gravity that EV can provide the total package could be more fun than from internal combustion.

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pdath

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#1333834 30-Jun-2015 08:03

kemosabe: Impressive from a speed point of view yes. But I have to say to me, it’s not much fun to watch (or listen to).

EV cars will get so fast soon that a man cannot drive them to their full potential. Will we eventually be watching self-drive cars racing? At some point soon there will be a grey area between the two. Even formula 1 is less and less about good drivers and more about technology and who can afford it.

Motor-racing to me is something like this (skip in 5 mins).

Not bashing. I have a hybrid and embrace technology. It’s great for efficiency but EV motorsport? Not for me.

There is nothing like that deep rumble of the engine (I'm a V8 fan), or the feeling of the engine through your whole body when it is working hard. But I still say bring on the EV cars. Sure the sensation is different - but different things for different people.

If we get to the point of having self-driving race cars then that will be the end of racing for me. Might as well watch a computer animation.

Currently race tracks are built to match the technical capabilities of internal combustion engine vehicles. Straights may have a limited length to limit top speed, corners have specific radius and camber, track widths are limited to either allow or prevent passing.
All that I see if a new class of vehicles coming along redefining the existing limits, and new track configurations will be needed to keep testing drivers.

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qyiet

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#1333837 30-Jun-2015 08:19

pdath: If we get to the point of having self-driving race cars then that will be the end of racing for me. Might as well watch a computer animation.

I dunno.. with the removal of human drivers, you could lower the rules required for safety. Imagine cars programmed for very aggressive interactions nudging the competition off the road. Not the same thing at all, but it could be amazing to watch :)

Warning: reality may differ from above post

pdath

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#1333838 30-Jun-2015 08:20

qyiet:
pdath: If we get to the point of having self-driving race cars then that will be the end of racing for me. Might as well watch a computer animation.

I dunno.. with the removal of human drivers, you could lower the rules required for safety. Imagine cars programmed for very aggressive interactions nudging the competition off the road. Not the same thing at all, but it could be amazing to watch :)

You might as well watch Play Station. Wont be much different.

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qyiet

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#1333853 30-Jun-2015 08:37

pdath:
You might as well watch Play Station. Wont be much different.

Oh but it will, it'll still be a test of strategy and engineering, just that all the work and planning from humans was done ahead of time. It's not like each time will be using the same car/tactics/AI here.

I suspect it would be more like watching other races that don't involve a human driver/rider. People have watched various animal races for centauries and those are all about the animal.

This could be similar, but has a 'who can build the best' competitive element to it.

Warning: reality may differ from above post

Fred99

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#1333893 30-Jun-2015 09:32

qyiet:
pdath:
You might as well watch Play Station. Wont be much different.

Oh but it will, it'll still be a test of strategy and engineering, just that all the work and planning from humans was done ahead of time. It's not like each time will be using the same car/tactics/AI here.

I suspect it would be more like watching other races that don't involve a human driver/rider. People have watched various animal races for centauries and those are all about the animal.

This could be similar, but has a 'who can build the best' competitive element to it.

When computer modeling is smart enough, then all that effort building and racing the driverless car can be avoided, and we humans can skip straight to the fun part - squirting champagne over boxes full of electronics stacked on a podium.

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RUKI

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#1333994 30-Jun-2015 11:06

qyiet:
... with the removal of human drivers, you could lower the rules required for safety. Imagine cars programmed for very aggressive interactions nudging the competition off the road. Not the same thing at all, but it could be amazing to watch :)

Here you go, who said that EV can't be fun to drive or not amazing to watch?

How about "trolleybus drift":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1hdV6I2aJE

frankv

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#1334116 30-Jun-2015 13:47

qyiet:
This could be similar, but has a 'who can build the best' competitive element to it.

Yeah, I thought about this too... I think an autonomous race car could be a lot of fun, especially on a track with a lot of other autonomous race cars.

wasabi2k

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#1334164 30-Jun-2015 14:44

I wonder if people were nay (neigh) saying motorsport vs horse racing when cars started going fast....

dwl

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#1334522 30-Jun-2015 23:11

Possibly one of the slowest forms of electric now part way between Japan and Hawaii - http://www.solarimpulse.com/ - 24 knots air speed makes for a long trip but getting there - now into second night having used up the height gained in the day to save batteries and now drawing down. The cockpit telemetry is worth checking and the whole package with the massive wingspan a real feat of engineering.

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