World's quickest electric car

[280]

I agree with every point you made in that post, and I applaud you for taking initiative and modifying your car to run on veg oil. It takes creative people like you and smaller manufacturers like Tesla to show the major manufacturers that it can be done, and done well.

By car builder, I did mean major manufacturers. Forgive me for sounding redundant here, but the R & D costs are too much for the OEMs to build and sell these electric vehicles for a competitive price, even with the government's tax incentives. For right now these cars are few and far between just like anything new that comes out, because its too expensive. As time goes on costs of these cars will decrease as batteries get lighter in weight and longer in range. Then you will see them start to replace many cars in cities and suburbs.

Speaking of government, if it would release it's choke-hold on the auto industry, we would see diesel vehicles here that are available almost everywhere else that would out MPG the gasoline cars by more than enough to offset the roughly $1 more per gallon cost of diesel. If consumers in the states had these vehicles available to them, it would change Americans' negative perspective about oil burners and create more of a demand for the automakers to build more.

There are a lot of "clean" diesels available in America. Leading the way is Mercedes with their Blue-tec diesels with urea injection, but the 25% increase in MPG does not justify a nearly 50% increase in the cost of fuel. In addition most Mercedes customers (not all) never even consider a diesel which is tragic because they are the one who could more likely afford the higher costs, and in turn make "clean" diesel more appealing to other automakers. Eventually a higher percentage of a barrel of oil would be used for diesel.

[280]

When the battery manufacturers can better prove their product as practical and/or better, these cars can and will become the norm.

[280]

Also a large spike in the cost of oil will really speed things up for electric vehicles.

[Pat McCotter]

When the battery manufacturers can better prove their product as practical and/or better, these cars can and will become the norm.

And the expiration/release of patents for large NiMH batteries.

[akmisrmaadi]

i'll never drive an electric car.

[KBCraig]

The electric that was performing so well at the track obviously wasn't configured for maximum street drivability, but gasoline cars that might beat it on the track would be even less drivable in everyday use. And, the electric can be reconfigured much more quickly, even if all the batteries have to be swapped out.

[akmisrmaadi]

there are dozens of cars straight from the factory that will crush that car easily and are perfectly drivable.

how much did it cost to build that electric car i wonder?

[MaineShark]

107mph trap is not fast. the instant torque gets it off the line fast. that base model c6 probably trapped 115

electric cars just aren't the same no matter how "fast" they are. which they really are not. that little tiny shit box with a decent small block would be much faster.

Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall.  Torque is how far you drag the wall.
(if you're around small-block guys, I'm sure you've heard that quote in reference to the little 4-bangers)

That said, electric motors provide more instantaneous torque.  How is that a bad thing?  I, personally, love torque.  Horsepower is for driving at speeds that you can't safely attain on most roads, anyway.  Torque is useful every day.

I'm not giving up my Corvette, but for driving around town, I'd love an electric car.  For hauling any real load, diesel is the only way to go (I find it hard to believe that folks still buy gasoline-powered trucks).  Gasoline engines are certainly going to remain a major player in GT cars (like the 'Vettes), but for commuter cars or even small sports cars (like the Pontiac Solstice or Mazda Miata), electric is a very viable option.

11s is fast, but c5 and c6 corvettes both have more power than that electric car.

And yet, one lost to a '72 Datsun 1200 electric.  

To be fair, a stock 'Vette versus a purpose-built racecar is a not a fair comparison (I can't get the video to load, but I think that's what's being discussed).

In any case, drag times are not meaningful for real driving.  0-60 and 30-60 would be a more useful numbers, as that's something that we do on a regular basis.  Anyone have those sorts of numbers for the electric car?

The biggest hurdle is government regulation of every aspect of automobile manufacture - to protect you and me, the consumer.

Indeed.  The first viable hybrid was built in the USA, in the 1970's.  The EPA killed it.

The electric that was performing so well at the track obviously wasn't configured for maximum street drivability, but gasoline cars that might beat it on the track would be even less drivable in everyday use.

I wouldn't say that.  I know plenty of folks with daily-driver gasoline cars that can get well down into the 11's.

And, the electric can be reconfigured much more quickly, even if all the batteries have to be swapped out.

I don't think that either has a benefit, here.  Particularly when dealing with turbocharged engines and electronic boost control.  Turn it down to 15psi max boost (or less) on the street, using normal gasoline.  When you get to the track, fill up with race gas and turn up the boost with the flip of a switch.  There are a variety of other technologies that allow cars to both commute and race.

On the other hand, batteries can be added and removed fairly easily.  If you have a 30-mile-per-day commuting lifestyle, there's no need to drag around enough energy capacity (whether it be fuel or batteries) for a occasional 400-mile trip.  It's a lot easier to have an extra battery pack that you can install only when needed, than it is to do the same thing with a fuel tank.  Or to have a self-contained generator module that can power the car on gasoline or diesel, and install that only for long trips, so you don't drag the excess weight around all the time.

The battery technology still has a way to go, though.  Weight and lifecycle cost need to come down; storage capacity, charge rates, and discharge rates all need to go up.  If the government gets out of the way, it will happen fairly quickly.  If not... who knows.

I'll stick with my diesel for everyday driving, right now.  I can move a 1-ton truck around in my mix of city and highway driving, and get 20 miles per gallon on 95/5 petro/bio blend.  If it had a bone-stock engine, I'm sure it would get better mileage, but with about 15% more fuel per injection, I have substantially more power for hauling material around.  Plus, when I eventually install a veggie-oil tank, the engine will still give me stock power levels, even on the lower-energy vegetable oil.

Joe