Electric n Electricity

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The Denso SARD Supra HV-R, a former Super GT racer modified to run with a hybrid powertrain, has taken the pole position for today's 2007 Tokachi 24-hour endurance race, which will be well underway by the time you read this. Toyota Team SARD competed with a hybrid in the event last year, a Lexus GS450h that finished 4th in class and 17th overall. The Supra HV-R is a different breed of cat entirely, however, and assuming it doesn't experience any mechanical problems or on-track mishaps, it looks to have a shot at the overall win. A lot can happen in a 24-hour race, however, so we'll just have to peek in during the day to see how things are progressing. With a 480-horsepower V8 augmented by in-wheel electric motors up front and a single electric motor in back, this ain't no grocery-getting Prius. This mean-looking thing's for real, and is the kind of hybrid even the most ardent speed freaks can get into.

UPDATE: After 12 hours of racing, the Supra is in first place overall. As of hour 12, the track is wet and it's raining at Tokachi.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/15/denso-sard-supra-hv-r-takes-the-pole-at-tokachi-24/
http://www.sard.co.jp/race_r/r2007/news/20070715.html

Denso SARD Supra HV-R Toyota Team SARD's specially-prepared Supra HV-R hybrid GT racer has won the Tokachi 24-hour endurance race in Japan. The converted Super GT-spec racing car did so convincingly, too. As the only GT-class car in the field, the Denso SARD Supra HV-R maintained a steady lead of several laps throughout the course of the race, and in the later hours, it essentially dialed things up a notch and ran away from the rest of the field. After starting from the pole position, the Supra completed 616 laps in the ensuing 24 hours -- 19 more than the second-place finisher. The victory marks the first of its type for a hybrid-powered vehicle. The Supra HV-R began life as a retired 480-horsepower Super GT racing car, which then had regenerative braking technology and a trio of hybrid motors added to it for this event. What bearing, if any, the success of the Supra HV-R has on Toyota's plans for production sports hybrid vehicles is unknown. With reports that the FT-HS concept is on its way to production, however, we'll likely be seeing how well a production-spec hybrid sports car fares soon enough.

Hybrid Toyota Supra Wins Tokachi 24-Hour race
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/16/hybrid-toyota-supra-wins-tokachi-24-hrs/

read it first : NC.org

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[youtube]JKBVEDJYnro[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKBVEDJYnro

Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous. With an Electric Car it costs just $2.00 per 100kms with MUCH more performance than with petrol at $20.00 per 100kms.

Electric Car races V10 Porsche GT and Ferrari 360 Spider. Wrightspeed X1 electric car Ariel Atom converted to EV with an AC propulsion 165Kw motor and Inverter. 0-60 in 3 sec

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[youtube]OXqYbNEiW0Y[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqYbNEiW0Y

Wrightspeed X1

• 3-phase AC induction motor, 236hp at the motor shaft
• 182 ft lbs torque at the motor shaft, from 0 rpm to 6,000 rpm
• 13,300 rpm rev limit
• weight 1,536 lbs
• no clutch, single gear ratio 8.25:1
. 25kw/hr Li-ion battery pack.

Ferrari 360 Spider - 400Bhp / 3197lb / 11 MPG
Porsche Carrera GT - 605Bhp / 3043lb / 10 MPG
Wrighspeed X1 - 220Bhp / 1536lb / 170 MPG

(Energy consumption 200 WHr/mile in urban use, equivalent to 170 mpg (33,705 WHr/gallon) Cost approx $0.02 per Mile.)

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[youtube]SsGeQby7Jnw[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsGeQby7Jnw

[CreatorHK]

Dun think this electric car can win in a crash test. But the potential is unthinkable.

[roy]

err actually this tubular frame is more likely to survive the crash test rather than your normal car hor! in case you're wondering
Roy

[CreatorHK]

Doc, explain more in detail can? TKS

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many of the supercars also use the tubular frame setup.
via : http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/chassis/tech_chassis.htm#Tubular

strength n light weight.
what we see is usually the Carbon Fibre/Fibreglass  segment mount on top of it.

how light?  and that's using 2002 technology.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5260/is_200209/ai_n20366494

Tubular steel space frame in race car weighs 34 kg. (Metals).
Advanced Materials & Processes,  September, 2002 

The Steel City Racer, made by an Australian racing team from the University of Wollongong, combines unique design features with high-strength steel, aluminum, and composites. The chassis weighs 34kg (75 lb) and is constructed of RaceTech 650, a proprietary steel tube made of SAE 4130 ultrahigh-strength, low-alloy steel from BHP Steel, Australia.

o, if you are asking strong enough mah?

those lotus are held together by glue. 
http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/chassis/tech_chassis2.htm#Aluminium-Space-Frame

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[tags] Electric Car

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Zero X - Two Wheels, Zero Emissions and Loads of Fun
http://www.celicasg.org/index.php?topic=5537.0

related : electric

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8344532.stm

F1 designer unveils electric car
T.27 electric car

Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson test drives the T.27

An electric car created by the McLaren F1 'supercar' road car designer Gordon Murray has been unveiled.

Three prototypes of the T.27 model will be developed over the next 16 months.

The manufacturing process, called iStream, has received £9m of investment, half of which came from the government's Technology Strategy Board.

iStream plants can be just one fifth of the size of a conventional car factory, as the cars are not made from stamped steel.

All the parts are designed by computer and welded together rather than being stamped out of metal sheets, explained David Bott, director of innovation platforms at the Technology Strategy Board.

"It's a very radical approach to manufacturing," he told the BBC. "Usually you talk about high value, or low carbon, or resource efficient manufacturing - this ticks all those boxes."

Lightweight

The T.27 car is designed for city or town use. Its predecessor, the T.25, weighs 600kg - half the weight of an average small family car.

"Cars don't tend to be heavy because of safety; they tend to be heavy because of luxury," added Mr Bott.

"The tubular frame of the T.27 is designed to absorb energy. It will pass all the relevant safety tests."

Gordon Murray, F1 designer and inventor of iStream, has been refining the technology since 1999, and has recruited former colleagues from his days at F1.

"The thinking is similar to McLaren's," he said. "It's all about efficiency and being lightweight, but in urban vehicles."

The most expensive part of any electric car is the battery, he added. So in order to be energy efficient, they need to be lightweight.

The T.27 can reach 60 miles per hour and is designed to travel up to 100 miles in between recharges.

"It's for commuting, picking the kids up, that sort of thing," said Mr Murray, who drives a Smartcar.

"We're not saying get rid of your station wagon but it's where car use must go - rather than having a couple of big cars in the family."

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Looks fun to drive & kinda cool... you can see the Macdaddy F1 influences
doubt it'll reach here tho






Finally, the T.25 City Car will  be making its official public debut today, as Gordon Murray Design will  bring it to the Smith School’s  World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment in Oxford today. The car  aims to become the solution for today’s urban mobility problems, and  represents the development and validation of a new manufacturing  technology trademarked iStream.

This process in fact significantly reduces the investment and energy  required to produce a vehicle. The car is therefore extremely  lightweight, it has an ultra safe structure, a flexible product design,  long life chassis, low cost accident repair, it has a small footprint  and recycled materials, among others.

“Our transport sector is  hugely dependent on fossil fuels and we need to de-fossilise our economy  as quickly as possible. We know most of the technologies already exist  in delivering low carbon transportation and the T.25 and iStream manufacturing processes
are clear examples of how  the transition can bring new and exciting developments,” said David  King, Founding Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the  Environment.

The iStream assembly process means that the manufacturing plant can be  designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This reduces  capital investment in the assembly plant by at least 80%. Moreover, the  same factory could be used to manufacture different variants.

“After a complete and comprehensive comparison of the process  details and seeing the vehicle prototype build, our conclusion is  affirmative that the innovative vehicle and process design of this  project is outstanding.  From our analysis the iStream process can be  positively qualified as the most promising manufacturing process  development in the car industry of the next decade,” Holger Erker,  Managing Director of IPE Engineering said in a release.

via : http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/lounge/41020-gordon-murrays-t-25-city-car.html

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some specs.




via : http://www.mycarforum.com/blog/myautoblog/532/gordon-murray-finally-previews-his-t25-city-car/

[tags] T25

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[tags] tubular

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for those into drags. maybe you can consider this baby.

silent at the start.
then the whine when it goes. super.

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[youtube]LifOs6WG3MY[/youtube]
http://youtu.be/LifOs6WG3MY

On-board camera of all-electric racer under development "NISSAN LEAF NISMO RC" driven by Tsugio Matsuda. Filmed on 6 June 2011 at Sodegaura Forest Raceway.