Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Toyota (TMG - Europe) To Attempt New Speed Record For Electric-Powered Vehicle

No official photos of the Toyota EV racer yet, but the car is expected to be similar to this e-Wolf ALPHA·1 SRF. The "e-Wolf" features two high-capacity electric-powered engines that catapult the ALPHA 1 SRF to 100 km/h (62.137 mph) in less than 4 seconds. This vehicle was conceived for application on a full racing distance. Image Credit: ewolf-car.com

Toyota (TMG - Europe) To Attempt New Speed Record For Electric-Powered Vehicle

Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) will attempt to set a new electric vehicle (EV) lap record at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife. The current record is held by e·WOLF, a Germany based pioneer in the area of street-legal electric vehicles.

TMG has developed a high-performance electric powertrain and this will form the basis of the record attempt, which is provisionally scheduled for the end of August.

The TMG 100% electric car, which is based on a two-seater sportscar chassis fitted with TMG’s exclusive EV technology, has a top speed of 260km/h and can travel from 0 to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds.

This car is ideal for a single-make EV championship and TMG aims to prove that green-thinking motorsport can generate emotion among fans by using innovative technology to deliver high performance.

Its challenge is to break the existing EV lap record of 9min 1.338secs set earlier this year. Already the TMG electric powertain has bettered this time during unofficial testing and it is expected to make a significant improvement during the official timed laps.

Rob Leupen, TMG’s Director of Business Operations, said: “We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how EV performance is continuously improving. TMG is a leader in high-performance powertrains and we want to show the world how far this technology has developed. Our mission is to advance this technology, not only in motorsport but in the automotive sector in general, to deliver products with more performance and better durability for our customers.”

Ludwig Zeller, TMG’s General Manager Electrics and Electronics, said: “TMG has developed a very robust and reliable electric powertrain, which has been proven in several products already. We have built up a tremendous amount of knowledge about such high-performance powertrains, particularly battery management systems and vehicle control units, during our development programmes. Our lap record attempt brings together this knowledge and it should clearly show the great potential of high-performance electric powertrains.”

Further details about the project, including photographs and a timetable for the record attempt, will follow in the coming days.
(ht: TMG)

... notes from The EDJE


[Article first published as New Speed Record Attempt For Electric-Powered Vehicle At Nurburgring on Technorati]

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