RE: Home-Grown Electric Beetle Beats Tesla
Tuesday 11th May 2010
This is Black Current III, a naughty-looking VW Beetle that's officially the fastest electric dragster in Europe. It recorded an 11.24sec ¼-mile run at Santa Pod recently, beating a Tesla Roadster by more than 1.5secs in the process.
Home-Grown Electric Beetle Beats Tesla
Alternative energy drag race goes badly for Tesla
Black Current III is the work of brothers Olly and Sam Young and is a 1960s Beetle powered by two forklift truck motors and 60 12-volt batteries. This is good for 1200lb ft of torque, a 0-60 time of around 3.0secs and a terminal velocity at the end of quarter-mile of 114mph.
The project started six years ago when the brothers got hold of an abandoned milk float and mated its motor to an engine-less Beetle.
The next step in the project is to get hold of some hi-tech lithium ion batteries. Considering how the Black Current boys and their forklift-powered car wiped the floor with the cutting-edge Tesla - we'd love to see what they can do with Black Current IV...
Follow this link for more tech details and vids of Black Current
Discussion
saw this a few weeks ago at big bang, seeing that bug run was quite impressive, but the organisers went a bit over board on the whole electric racing thing.
there was a couple of sinclair c5's going down the track, VERY boring, and lots of other equally dull cars that made no noise and werent that quick.
i dont think any other electric car there even came close to that bug.
and dont even get me started on the camping arrangements and the evening entertainment!
this used to be a great show, this years was possibly the worst show iv ever been too!
the organisers have a lot to answer for!
there was a couple of sinclair c5's going down the track, VERY boring, and lots of other equally dull cars that made no noise and werent that quick.
i dont think any other electric car there even came close to that bug.
and dont even get me started on the camping arrangements and the evening entertainment!
this used to be a great show, this years was possibly the worst show iv ever been too!
the organisers have a lot to answer for!
Two electric series motors, lots of small 12v high cranking current batteries, a big on/off switch and a lot of Amps!!
The advantage of electric motors in these situations is that when rated at say 100hp for an 1hr they can actually run at 1000hp for short periods only limited by the amount of current you can deliver from the batteries and the electronics. They appear as a virtual short circuit when stopped so the instantaneous torque available when the go button is pushed is incredible. The torque curve will fall away quite rapidly as the revs of the motor rise but upto about 5000rpm OMG!!
As someone has already posted probably not suitable for the daily commute with only limited range.
The problem with such a massive amount of torque is the drive train breaking.
If they get some super capacitors for it then be very afraid as they can deliver virtually unlimited current into a motor than can deliver virtually unlimited torque!! Stand well back be interesting to see which bit breaks first.
The advantage of electric motors in these situations is that when rated at say 100hp for an 1hr they can actually run at 1000hp for short periods only limited by the amount of current you can deliver from the batteries and the electronics. They appear as a virtual short circuit when stopped so the instantaneous torque available when the go button is pushed is incredible. The torque curve will fall away quite rapidly as the revs of the motor rise but upto about 5000rpm OMG!!
As someone has already posted probably not suitable for the daily commute with only limited range.
The problem with such a massive amount of torque is the drive train breaking.
If they get some super capacitors for it then be very afraid as they can deliver virtually unlimited current into a motor than can deliver virtually unlimited torque!! Stand well back be interesting to see which bit breaks first.
Edited by peterperkins on Tuesday 11th May 12:42
like a couple of rc cars having a race !
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
EDIT - not saying this isn't clever, as ever my laziness gets the better of me, and by omitting a few words I end up pissing someone off, which I do not intend to do.
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
EDIT - not saying this isn't clever, as ever my laziness gets the better of me, and by omitting a few words I end up pissing someone off, which I do not intend to do.
Edited by Mighty Flex on Tuesday 11th May 13:42
Mighty Flex said:
like a couple of rc cars having a race !
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
If it's that easy, why weren't you there kicking the Beetle's arse?there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
Mr Gear said:
Mighty Flex said:
like a couple of rc cars having a race !
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
If it's that easy, why weren't you there kicking the Beetle's arse?there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
good for them though, if that makes them happy then that's nice.Basically just saying there is a lot less involved in making an electric car go fast then a petrol one. that said, a lot less people have done it, so they are in relatively unknown territory. i just wonder why so few people have bothered previously
?Edited by Mighty Flex on Tuesday 11th May 13:27
Mighty Flex said:
Mr Gear said:
Mighty Flex said:
like a couple of rc cars having a race !
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
If it's that easy, why weren't you there kicking the Beetle's arse?there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
good for them though, if that makes them happy then that's nice.Basically just saying there is a lot less involved in making an electric car go fast then a petrol one.
I happen to know the lads who built this, and believe me, they worked real hard to make this, treading new ground and trying new things that had never been done before. If I wanted an 11-second drag car, I could do it far cheaper and easier with petrol and a V8, and that is why this story is significant.
Mr Gear said:
Mighty Flex said:
Mr Gear said:
Mighty Flex said:
like a couple of rc cars having a race !
there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
If it's that easy, why weren't you there kicking the Beetle's arse?there's nothing clever about making an electric car go fast - enough volts to get the power without too much current and just enough charge to get you to the end of the 1/4mile. sorted.
very simple formula, no fun noise, hence boring. nothing like all the hundreds of variables that need to be right for a proper car to go quickly in a manageable way
good for them though, if that makes them happy then that's nice.Basically just saying there is a lot less involved in making an electric car go fast then a petrol one.
I happen to know the lads who built this, and believe me, they worked real hard to make this, treading new ground and trying new things that had never been done before. If I wanted an 11-second drag car, I could do it far cheaper and easier with petrol and a V8, and that is why this story is significant.
carscribes said:
gifdy said:
Mannginger said:
Purpose built drag-car beats "production" car in drag race shocker.
Exactly. Quiet news day ?
No surprise the bug beat it in a drag race! Something tells me the result would be very different if there were corners to contend with. Also the Tesla is built to production car standards and would perform consistently for many miles. I wonder how many runs that beetle will do before cooking one of it's forklift motors?
I'd imagine some of the electric karts would pair up pretty well to the beetle too. They certainly don't hang about.
carscribes said:
gifdy said:
Mannginger said:
Purpose built drag-car beats "production" car in drag race shocker.
Exactly. Quiet news day ?Gassing Station | Drag Racing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff