For quite some time now, Toyota has been chugging away at an electric racer, preparing it for what they hoped would be a record-breaking lap around the famous Nurburgring. After over a month of anxiously awaiting the specific date for the attempt, we now hear that the Toyota EV Racer has finished with a record time of 7:47.79 - smashing the previous record of 9:01.338 established by the Peugeot EX1 Concept back in May 2011. With this time, the Toyota EV Racer created by Toyota Motorsports GmbH (TMG) can brag of being 30 seconds shy of times achieved by some great sports cars, like the Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and Dodge Viper ACR.
The Toyota EV Racer is powered by a pair of electric motors sourced from Evo Electric that deliver a total of 375 HP and 590 pound-feet of torque. Mated to a single speed gearbox, the EV Racer will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and will hit a top speed of 161 mph. All this while also getting a range of 124 miles.
Toyota Motorsports GmbH (TMG) Communications Officer, Alastair Moffitt, told MotorAuthority that much of the electric drivetrain powering Toyota’s new prototype is based on knowledge gained in the development of the Kinectic Energy Recovery System (KERS) used in its original F1 cars. According to Moffitt, the project is a valuable chance to test high-performance electric powertrains in a real motorsport environment, giving TMG’s engineer’s a chance to learn more about cooling, battery performance, motor performance, durability, etc.
This is only the beginning folks. While Bugatti focuses on SSC and Koenigsegg as competitors for the world’s fastest car, other automakers will be sliding in line to create bigger and faster electric vehicles. When these two worlds collide is anyone’s guess.
Check out the video of the EV Racer’s record breaking lap by clicking here!
You might not be familiar with the EVCup, but give it a few years and these guys are going to be on your racing radar. The world’s first racing cup series is set to kick off this November in the US, but before that, the series will head to London to participate in the EcoVelocity, a low-carbon motor festival.
As part of the event, the EVCup will be bringing one car that will be featured in the their racing series: the iRacer. As a track-focused electric vehicle that has been designed and engineered from the ground up as a pure race car, the iRacer will be one of many eco-friendly racers that’s set to compete in the ’Sports EV’ classification of the EVCup. Full details behind the iRacer will be unveiled by the EVCup during the festival where the latter is expected to announce the former’s official entry to the racing series.
“We are very excited at the prospect of unveiling the iRacer and we are delighted to be taking part in EcoVelocity," said Sylvain Filippi, the EVCup’s managing director.
EcoVelocity will be held from September 8-11, 2011 at the Battersea Power Station where it will feature the latest green models, including electric, hybrid, and low CO2-emitting cars, in addition to providing test drives for these vehicles on a specially-constructed circuit.
Electric sports cars are propping up at an increasingly fast rate these days. So much so, that it seems like we’re introducing a new automaker and their model at least once per month. This time around, our source of fascination is Quimera, a "cluster of multinational companies that have been assembled to manage sustainable projects in metropolitan and urban areas." One part of their entire vision of providing sustainable living in the future is the development of an electric sports car, the All-Electric GT.
With a profile that looks similar to the Zenvo ST1, the AEGT does provide an outstanding design language with a powertrain that’s likewise impressive considering that development of the model lasted this long without much fanfare. The AEGT is being touted as the first competition vehicle of its class to "run on 100% electric batteries and engines, with performance similar or superior to conventional internal combustion competition vehicles."
Together with the help of Altran, Quimera developed and built every nook and cranny of the AEGT, including the chassis, the carbon fiber monocoque chassis, and of course, the powertrain. Speaking of the powertrain, the AEGT runs on three 231-bhp UQM electric motors with high-powered lithium polymer EIG battery packs. The resulting output can hit as much as 700 horsepower and well over 740 lb/ft of torque. Just in case you haven’t wrapped your head around those numbers, that’s insanely fast for an electric car.
But it gets even better.
The AEGT’s output translates to a 0-62 mph time of just three seconds with a top speed of 187 mph.
Sure, the car’s still in the testing and development stage, but if the AEGT is as good as advertised, then Quimera just might have a knockout of an electric car in its hands.
Finland may be the home of cellular phone giant, Nokia, but the country is beginning to make a name for itself in the automotive industry with a very special electric sports car a couple of years in the making.
We last heard about the ERA Electric Raceabout last year, so it was a little surprising that it took this long for the car to get back on the radar. Having said that, the Electric Raceabout is back in the news after spending some quality testing time at the world famous Nurburgring.
The electric sports car is the brainchild of the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and is being developed to become a serious player in a growing market. Details behind the car are still sketchy at best, but we do know that it weighs 1,700 kg and is built with a carbon fiber monococque chassis with high-strength steel sub-frames and double wishbones with adjustable coil-overs.
UPDATE 09/30/2011: The E-RA has turned out to be a real menace out on the track, setting the new EV record at the Nurburgring. During the attempt, the car was driven by German race driver, Ralf Kelleners, who needed to complete a full lap of 20,832 km in a time of only 8 minutes and 42.372 seconds. The average speed for the lap was 88 mph and the top speed was clocked in at 147 mph. What’s more impressive is that, during testing, the car hit a top speed of 151 mph. The E-RA consumed 25.6 kWh during its record lap, measured as energy taken from the grid to recharge the battery. This results in an energy consumption of 1230 Wh/km or 123 kWh/100km for the lap.
More details on the E-RA Electric Raceabout after the jump.
When whispers started getting louder about Cadillac’s plan of building a production version of the Converj Concept, a lot of people began to wonder whether this was another one of those merry-go-round statements that would be taken back pretty quickly. After all, rumors about a production version of the Converj have been going on for about two years now and on more than one occasion, General Motors has pulled the plug on the project.
But now it looks like the green light is finally on. The Cadillac Converj Concept is headed to production as the Cadillac ELR.
According to GM, the development of the ELR is currently underway and they are in the middle of testing and developing all the pertinent details of the car. Chief among this is the powertrain, which is expected to carry an electric propulsion system with a T-shaped lithium ion battery, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator.
The whole set-up is pretty similar to the Chevrolet Volt where the ELR is looking into using electricity as the primary energy source with the assistance of a gas engine generator as back-up in case the batteries are all used up.
The decision to finally grant production status on the ELR was a long time in the making for GM, but in the end, the company felt like it was now time for the car to be built. “The concept generated instant enthusiasm,” said Don Butler, VP of marketing for Cadillac.
“Like other milestone Cadillac models of the past, the ELR will offer something not otherwise present – the combination of electric propulsion with striking design and the fun of luxury coupe driving.”
As if we haven’t been inundated with all these companies releasing EV sports cars recently, Morgan - yep, the very same brand that brought back the Three Wheeler - is laying the groundwork for its own electric sports car concept.
Together with British companies Zytek and Radshape, Morgan is in the development stages of building a prototype model that’s based on the Supersports chassis. If everything goes according to plan, two electric concepts being built under the Morgan +E program will be featured next year carrying a new high power-density electric powertrain courtesy of Zytek. This powertrain is being prepared as a new derivative of the company’s 70kW, 300 Nm electric powertrain that is already being used on some cars in the US.
For their part, Morgan is looking into exploring different avenues to further enhance their brand ever since its recent revival from obscurity. “This is an exciting investigation into the potential for a zero-emissions Morgan with near supercar performance,” says Morgan’s Operations Director, Steve Morris.
“By working closely with Zytek and Radshape, who already have considerable expertise in this field, we aim to make this a realistic concept that could lead to further developments if demand and other factors prove favorable.”
While this smells like an attempt by Morgan to keep abreast of the times by introducing an electric sports car concept, we’d be very surprised if this whole project makes it past the prototype phase. Not that we don’t want to see one on the road; it’s just that it speaks more about it being a feasibility study than it is about actually producing the car.
You have to excuse us for doing a little double-take on Audi’s new Frankfurt-bound Urban Spyder Concept. We actually thought that this was the same concept as the Urban E-Tron Concept that we introduced a few days ago. As it turns out, they’re two completely different models. Who knew, right?
The overall look of the car is completely similar to that of the Urban E-Tron Concept, including stand-out features like the free-standing 21” wheels and the surrounding plates that incorporate those strips of LED lights. However, where the E-Tron has a sliding roof and doors, the Spyder Concept doesn’t have a roof at all and instead features a low, continuous window area with its doors opening upwards diagonally.
As for the interior, well, we don’t see anything different either. Both models carry a 1+1 seating configuration with each of the seats being made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) to provide supreme sturdiness in a lightweight set-up.
Finally, the Urban Spyder Concept also runs on two E-Tron electric motors that provides the power for the car and combined with a lithium-ion battery pack that supplies the energy.
That’s about as much as we’ve been told for now. But rest assured, we’ll share more details as soon as they become available.
The ever continuing dialogue regarding the future of electric cars has drawn a fine line between the believers and the skeptics. But we’ve learned this year not to sleep on EVs just yet, especially when you have cars like this 1981 Camaro and the Volkswagen Beetle Black Current proving that EVs are the real deal.
The latter has already shown that it can blast off a quarter-mile time of 9.51 seconds, an astounding number for a car, let alone an EV. And recently, this 1981 Chevrolet Camaro by Team Haiyin EV Racing called the "Warp Factor II", managed to pull off a similar feat, clocking in a quarter-mile time of 10.08 seconds at the Lebanon Valley Dragway while hitting a top speed of 127 mph.
It’s not as quick as what the Black Current was able to accomplish, but it was impressive nevertheless, which lends to the belief - hollow as it may be for some - that high-powered EV cars like this one have a place in the future of the industry.
Find out more about the 1981 Chevrolet Camaro ’Warp Factor’ after the jump
While we can feel bad about Bluebird Electric’s failed attempt at setting the land speed record for an electric car, we can at least give due props to another team that set an electric car record of their own this past weekend.
We’re not all too familiar with the "Schluckspecht" EV car, but we’re definitely sure about how EV range has been one of the biggest challenges facing electric cars these days. But if you’re one that can feel at ease about the possibility of having an EV that can travel over 1,000 miles on a single charge, the Schluckspecht EV just might prove that it’s an attainable goal after all.
The whole collaboration came as a result of partnership between Pforzheim University, the University of Offenburg, and the Fraunhofer Institut EMI, the Schluckspecht - apparently, it translates to "heavy drinker" - shattered the previous EV range record, traveling a distance of 1,103 miles (1,631.5 km), which is almost twice as far as what the previous record - 623 miles - was able to accomplish.
The Schluckspecht is powered by 14 lithium-cobalt battery packs and was driven by four drivers in a 36-hour span. The vehicle comes with a lightweight chassis that uses two in-wheel hub motors. It took over 14 years of development before the vehicle finally had its turn in the spotlight. But if you ask anybody associated with the project they’ll tell you that all those years spent building the car was all worth it in the end.
You’ve probably heard about this burgeoning market segment in the auto industry called electric cars. Clearly, a lot of people have strong opinions about the future of these types of cars, including Porsche who has just appointed Audi engineering executive, Joerg Kerner, to head up powertrain development. Kerner has been working on electric powertrains for Audi since 2009, so it would be safe to assume he’ll be doing the same for Porsche. Porsche rival, Ferrari, isn’t so pro-electric. In fact, Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, has a pretty straight-forward opinion on the matter.
He doesn’t believe in them.
Strong words for a man whose company brought out the Ferrari Vettura Laboratorio HY-KERS and is working hard on building a hybrid Ferrari. But apparently for Mr. Luca, there’s still a fine line drawn between hybrid and electric...and he’s not willing to cross that line. Granted, the man is very smart in choosing his words, so his opinions on the matter certainly carry some weight on it, but isn’t it still a little presumptuous to suggest that Ferrari has no future in the electric car segment?
Engadget was able to chat with Montezemolo and he was pretty clear on where he stood on the matter. "You will never see a Ferrari electric because I don’t believe in electric cars," he said. "I don’t think they represent an important step forward for pollution or CO2 or the environment. But, we are working very, very hard on the hybrid Ferrari. This should be the future, and I hope in a couple of years you can see it."
Like we said, Luca di Montezemolo is a very smart man and while we understand where he’s coming from, we certainly wouldn’t unequivocally shoot down the possibility of seeing an electric Ferrari in the future, especially considering how unpredictable the world is right now.
