Drayson Lola Electric Racing Car

[old man]

In what looked like a late addition to the Autosport Show as it does not appear in the Trade Directory for yesterday and today, a stand featured the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV as what looked like a finished car. It was very strange looking at the "engine bay" with no engine!

Amongst the technology said to be on the car is "Qualcomm Halo wireless charging technology" and "BAE Systems stuctural composite battery technology", whatever they are?

In the handout available on the stand (booth to any American readers!) it states that "Power in qualifying mode" is 650kW/850Bhp and 0-60 is given as 3.0sec, 0-100 in 5.1sec and critically "Running time in race mode" is quoted at >15 minutes.

Now for a bear of little brain like me these things mean not a lot really but someone close to the project said that their initial intention was to run the car to set a few (lap?) records. It is very clear that a great deal of money has been spent on a vehicle with nowhere to race as yet and with some practical problems to be solved but Drayson are looking to recruit "the finest engineers" to work on the project.

Interesting exhibit, any thoughts on the above technology and key figures?

[knighty]

Originally Posted by old man

In what looked like a late addition to the Autosport Show as it does not appear in the Trade Directory for yesterday and today, a stand featured the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV as what looked like a finished car. It was very strange looking at the "engine bay" with no engine!

Amongst the technology said to be on the car is "Qualcomm Halo wireless charging technology" and "BAE Systems stuctural composite battery technology", whatever they are?

In the handout available on the stand (booth to any American readers!) it states that "Power in qualifying mode" is 650kW/850Bhp and 0-60 is given as 3.0sec, 0-100 in 5.1sec and critically "Running time in race mode" is quoted at >15 minutes.

Now for a bear of little brain like me these things mean not a lot really but someone close to the project said that their initial intention was to run the car to set a few (lap?) records. It is very clear that a great deal of money has been spent on a vehicle with nowhere to race as yet and with some practical problems to be solved but Drayson are looking to recruit "the finest engineers" to work on the project.

Interesting exhibit, any thoughts on the above technology and key figures?

My thoughts and experiences are that the automotive industry is fast realising that traction motor based hybrids and full electric vehicles are highly inefficient and expensive beasts with a poor business case for the mass market.......technically the the net result being very short range capability for a full charge, and they are more expensive to run than the latest down-sized IC engines.....I fear that despite all the marketing hype, the Drayson car will also demostrate this basic flaw with 15 minute duration.........its a bit of a joke in my book, but good on them for trying........I work in the hybrid industry so feel very well placed to make such claims........there is another 20-30 years left in the good old internal combustion engine, so no need to panic is my conclusion.

a few weeks ago I saw an electric bike race on TV.......my god, it was dull as ditch water

[wolfhound]

The electric car will only become a reality when you can get at least a range of 400km + on a charge and then with a reasonably quick charge.

I don't think batteries offer this and we may end up with a different method of energy storage.

[old man]

Not a question of range for racing purposes, it is a question of time. They need to be able to run for 1 hour or so at racing speed to compare with LMP cars. Rate of charge is not a problem for racing, you just need enough batteries so that you can change them in a pit stop

[dtype38]

Just out of interest, anyone know what the definition is for an 'electric' car? Would an electric car still be 'electric' if it carried an onboard charging system (so long as the wheels were driven by electric motors)? For example, an electric KERS system could be considered an onboard battery charger. But then so could a small onboard IC engine powering an alternator. Given a big enough engine, or even a turbine, a-la Jaguar C-X75, a combustion powered charging system could even directly power the traction motors, but would it still be an 'electric' car? If it's the burning of fossil fuel in the car that's a problem, what if the IC engine ran on hydrogen. It would have no 'emissions' (as in global warming ones) and the wheels would be electric motor powered, so would it be an electric car? I ask, because on current 'electric' cars, unless you charge your batteries from solar, wind or wave power, then the power came from internal combustion initially.... you just aren't carrying the charger round!

[crooky]

Haven't heard anything about this for months now. Are they planning to run the car for a demo lap at Le Mans or was nothing ever mentioned?

[Paceracing]

The project is very much alive and under development.

To answer earlier questions, a structural battery is new technology and BAE are one of many companies developing it. It is quite simply a structure that can hold a charge, (i.e. bodywork). It is not a conventional battery that has been shaped to the same form as bodywork however.

Wireless charging is inductive charging. i.e. two wire coils, one under the car, the other under the track at relatively short intervals. When the car passes over the coil, an electrical charge is induced into the coil in the coil in the car creating energy which is then stored in the structural batteries. The two combinations will mean electric cars that get their energy from coils in the ground. A long way off maybe before we see it on the M1 motorway but clever tech none-the-less.

Hope this helps.