Lola-Drayson electric racing car unveiled
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A new electric race car prototype has been officially revealed by Lola Group and Drayson Racing Technologies (DRT).
The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV is a technology demonstrator that is aiming to break lap records for electric vehicles at tracks around the world.
Built around the current Lola LMP1 group B12 Le Mans chassis, the new vehicle uses a DRT electric drivetrain to generate 850Bhp, propelling it to 60pmh from standstill in 3.0 seconds. The weight of the car is 1000kg, slightly in excess of the regular 900kgs in the present LMP1.
Power is stored in a new generation of Lithium Nanophosphate cells made by A123 Systems and packaged by Mavizen. The team is also experimenting with structural composite battery technology from BAE Systems – where the batteries are essentially part of the body of the car in an effort to keep weight down.
Charging is done wirelessly and inductively where charge pads made by Halo IPT will be available in the pit garages. The initial target is for the car to be used for short ‘time attacks’, essentially optimising its qualifying performance. To this end multimatic electrical regenerative dampers will also be available.
The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at Warwick University will provide recyclable composite body panels, while Cosworth will provide electronic control systems.
Project pioneer Lord Drayson said: ‘Electric racing represents a considerable new business opportunity for motorsport and underlines the growing commercial potential of green racing and technology.
‘Electric-powered racing is really taking off with the launch of the new FIA Formula E world championship for electric racing cars planned for 2013 and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of the push for innovation at such an exciting time for the sport and industry.’
Officially announced at the end of last year the proposed championships will feature eight events per season at city centres venues with winding tracks to avoid long straights and overheating issues.
The field will comprise 24 cars, most likely with different manufacturers, but if more than one car supplier participates, ’the FIA will proceed to a balance of performance between the cars.’
The design and specification of the chassis, aerodynamics and powertrain will be largely unrestricted.
Each race will consist of about four heats per car of 15 minutes each and charging of the cars will be authorized between those heats – ideally the charging time will not exceed half an hour.
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Readers' comments (11)
John Jay | 12 Jan 2012 1:10 pm
Wonderful - Amazing...!! Can't wait to see it - (and maybe hear it...?) - in action...!!!
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Russell Hall | 12 Jan 2012 1:13 pm
Every young boys dream Scalextric human size.
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Mike Byrne | 12 Jan 2012 2:03 pm
A wonderful effort that showcases british technology. However 30 minutes refuel time on a race car when pit stop times for normal race cars is timed in seconds. Maybe a car fuelled with hydrogen is the answer.
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ArtofSpeed | 12 Jan 2012 6:39 pm
When they make an electric power race car that sounds like a Aston Martin V12 Lola or a V12 Jaguar XJR9 i would be interested, until then this is like silent sex? if you don't have the incredible sounds you have missed most of the point, watch a Spitfire or a P51 Mustang fly by you with the RR Merlin screaming then remove the sound and try it again. Technology may be very good in a lot of ways, but like all things in life nothing is free and you have to look at the whole picture and weigh what you are getting with what you are loosing.
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Ian Hopley | 12 Jan 2012 6:50 pm
Would be an awesome tool for sprints and hillclimbs though! I think that's where electric cars could do very well - those events (except maybe Goodwood), don't attract such good crowds though
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keshav mirasdar | 13 Jan 2012 6:03 am
Why not to have a set of replaceble battery set and finish replcing the pack in less than a minute?
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Jim Le Shed | 13 Jan 2012 3:12 pm
The recharge time should be part of the racing, in some way or another. There is nothing like healthy competition to spur on development. Swappable battery packs (as I've mentioned before) are the way forward for EV, but possibly getting race teams ingenuity involved will lead to the development of fast recharge systems...
The fewer the rules, the faster the evolution.
Rather then just speed, distance should also be one of the aims of the race series!
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Rodney Harrap | 13 Jan 2012 5:23 pm
The contributor 'ArtofSpeed' complains about the lack of evocative sound from an electric vehicle. Such sound has been created previously; the prototype was reported as a diesel Citroen AX.
If memory serves, Lotus Cars tried to save weight (performance & economy) by removing all sound proofing in the diesel Citroen as that car had a challenging noise profile. Then they created reverse sound waves to kill all sound in the car using the multi-speaker radio system creating near silence. Those engineers love evocative sounds, so linking the engine revolutions to sound tracks you could select the sound of a V12 Ferrari, or a flat six Porsche, etc., for the internal sound as you drove. Just imagine, a 4 cylinder indirect compression ignition engine sounding like a screaming Ferrari inside the car.
A recent Radio report mentioned research into artificial sounds needed to aid safer driving inside a quiet electric car.
External noise is increasingly problematical in 21 Century. My understanding of a recent court case means that a former employee of a Motor Racing Circuit complained about the noise of the circuit as the ex-employee lived nearby. A seven figure compensation award in court (plus Half a Million pounds to the Lawyers); in addition to a requirement to cut racing days by 60%. If that is the law in England, will the London Airport, The Olympics & all Premiership Stadiums have their activity cut by 60%? Most motor racing is now partially silenced except F1 and a VERY few other classes. Apparently the locals complain about the drone of tyres that you get near a motorway. Should people be able to move house into a noisy environment (e.g. near a Military Firing Range) and then get compensation? Silencing such establishments will be an interesting engineering challenge.
The Batteries proposed in this project are fascinating, new chemistry (to me), and composite batteries forming part of the structure is intriguing; rapidly replaceable batteries has been wisely suggested previously. I have not investigated the availability of Lithium for a World using all Electric Vehicles.
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Kalev Essenson | 13 Jan 2012 8:47 pm
Why not use supercapacitors instead of batterys and charge them with another sc; it would take seconds and while racing, the charging capacitors can be refilled with solar energy?
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Steve Price | 16 Jan 2012 5:15 pm
The poor energy density of supercapacitors, even compared to batteries, makes travelling any distance not feasible. I agree that rapid battery replacement is the way forward and the least likely to create major thermal incidents in the pit lane. The more rapid the charging gets, the more heat will be generated by the internal resistance of the battery. However, a major obstacle to replaceable batteries would be cost. I would be interested in finding out how much the battery pack costs.
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