Grass roots electric racing class

Post by **Clay** » Sat, 14 Apr 2012, 18:51

Given our current discussion i figured this would be a good gauge of people's ideas. The more people that vote the better!

Post by **zeva** » Sat, 14 Apr 2012, 19:36

I would like to vote for all of them

but have voted for Converted Production Cars because that's where I'm hoping to go with my RX7 conversion. For myself, I prefer this because I only need one car for both racing and commuting - and can drive it to the track and back! It's also the class of racing that the general public can most associate with, i.e it's the same sort of vehicles they drive to work.

I think Electric Karts would be the easiest place to start for most people because they wouldn't need to build their own chassis, just install a (standardised?) electric drivetrain shoehorned into an existing kart chassis. But I do find Electrathon and Formula vehicles more interesting because vehicle design comes into play more, and they tend to push the limits of the technology.

Post by **roddilkes** » Sun, 15 Apr 2012, 04:31

I agree Ian that converted cars would make for great racing.

I have voted for Electrathon style vehicles because they are so accessible financially and allow a huge amount of design innovation. You can get on the track for $1500 (plus a squillion hours of your spare time). Speeds are still slow and safe enough that a formula can be built around this to extend it in the future.

I have a kart myself but am leaning away from this for electric racing:
1) Not much engineering design innovation can be done
2) They are actually very inefficient, not what we are aiming for with new generation electrics.
3) Many karting punters are locked in the fossil fuel paradigm (broad generalization here). It may be better to make a clean break.

However if someone wants to set up a kart based formula I shall buy myself a motor and bolt it on.

Regards, Rod

Post by **jonescg** » Sun, 15 Apr 2012, 18:35

All of them would be good

But I voted other, only cause electric motorcycle racing wasn't listed. Yes, we have eFX/TTXGP, but it's not the most accessible entry to the sport. A grass-roots electric motorbike conversion race class would be fun. I would dearly love to see more e-moto conversions in Perth so I didn't have to travel to Sydney to race.

Post by **Coulomb Racing** » Sun, 15 Apr 2012, 22:39

Could I please just put on record that I 100% support an electrathon style race, with a budget ceiling of $8000 and a maximum battery capacity of 2.4 kWh. This would bond well with my personal ideas of eV racing expansion in Perth into an endurance series with battery pack swapping and longer races. As many have pointed out, we can openly use the American electrathon rules with minor changes so race series could begin next year

Post by **Tony23** » Mon, 16 Apr 2012, 02:49

i used to race go karts, still have a rolling chassis in shed, ive been hopeing to convert for some time, just havent got around to it....
maybe if there was some incentive\help along the lines of guidelines etc i may progress more....so i choose karts.

Post by **Faz** » Mon, 16 Apr 2012, 20:56

I think karts are the most accessible format. Chassis' are standardised and readily available and battery space is limited which means cheap convert.
I voted for single seat race cars though because I think building cars that are unique to electric racing would be a good idea.
Sort of like "Aussie class" but electric.

Post by **Crash** » Tue, 29 May 2012, 16:28

Personally I'd be keen to go to the next level having built several electrathon cars and build an open wheeler / SAE style car. I don't think this has to be the high cost exercise that people may assume if there are reasonable limits on the power and capacity of motor/controller and battery and structures / chassis are kept simple. Until we get tothis stage, I'll keep enjoying building and refining the electrathon cars and maybe investigate running in a hill climb with an EV against the establishment.

Post by **Thalass** » Wed, 30 May 2012, 02:31

I voted for "other" for the same reason Jones did. I would love to see electric motorcycles racing in Perth. When it comes to four wheels i'm torn evenly between karts, electrothon, open wheelers, and converted "touring cars". They all have their merits and shortcomings, but bikes win any day.

Post by **manlytom** » Wed, 20 Jun 2012, 04:59

suggestion, to get the message out. production stock EV motorcycles. they are here, can race. good fun.
on racetrack -
or offtrack. MX. or is that already just happening ?

Post by **Canberra32** » Wed, 20 Jun 2012, 13:05

Ofcorse I'm going to have to say a low cost clubman.
They can be stripped down to within an inch of their life and still perform.
Fast light and fun.
Resale of them is easy too