http://www.ocala.com/article/20140703/ARTICLES/140709916?Title=Do-high-performance-electric-cars-signal-the-end-of-the-ICE-age- Do high-performance electric cars signal the end of the ICE age? By Andy Fillmore July 3, 2014
[image / Bruce Ackerman/Star-Banner http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20140703&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=140709916&Ref=AR Josh Hart, foreground, owner of Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, is among pit crew members pushing “Big Daddy” Don Garlits's electric dragster back to the line after a burnout at Bradenton Motorsports Park on June 8. ] OCALA - Fans of old-school hot rods may be in for a jolt. Literally. Steve Hawter, president of the Twilight Cruisers Car Club, has been a fan of gas-powered hot rods since watching James Dean drive a 1949 Mercury in the 1955 movie “Rebel Without a Cause,” but says he knows the age of electric race cars and hot rods is on the way. “Generations change,” Hawter said. “I have youngsters come up and ask 'What's that boxy looking thing?' painted on the side of my car-show equipment trailer, and I tell them it's a jukebox.” Don Garlits' technical advancements and interest in the quiet, zero-emissions, low-operating-cost electric vehicles may not signal the end of ICE — the acronym car enthusiasts use for “internal combustion engine” — but it might be contributing to a little thawing. Ken Koch of Murrieta, California, said he has been around “ICE hot-rod culture” since his high school days. Koch, 73, said he is almost done with his latest non-ICE project, an all-electric orange 1934 Ford roadster custom hot rod. “Just 12 years ago we were still using lead acid batteries,” said Koch, a retired electrical engineer, former NASA Apollo program contract worker and National Electric Drag Racing Association member. “I partnered with Jim Ludiker on a lead-acid-battery dragster called the Circuit Breaker, which ran the quarter in 9.44 seconds at 136 miles per hour. Batteries were the big hang up, and now we use lithium.” Koch's website, at www.evconsultinginc.com, indicates in 2001 the Circuit Breaker ran from 0 to 60 mph in 1.85 seconds. Koch's '34 rod will use lithium batteries and two General Electric four pole series wound motors, which weigh 230 pounds each and together develop about 800 horsepower. The motors are coupled to a two-speed Powerglide transmission previously used on a 2,000 horsepower ICE dragster. “Derek Barger of High Tech Battery systems and Dennis Berube, who rebuilt the G.E. motors used in my hot rod, are both pioneers in this technology,” Koch said. Shawn Lawless, whose family company Lawless Industries provides high-efficiency electric vehicle drive systems for customers including Disney World, designed the electric drive in Garlits' Swamp Rat 37, which is being used in the 200 mph quarter-mile dragster record attempt. Lawless has a drag bike that has already hit 201 mph in the quarter mile. “The electric motorcycle feels like a nitro methane drag bike,” Lawless said. “It has amazing straight-line torque,” Lawless envisions a time when car buffs might gather to show off paint which changes colors by using voltage-sensitive paint and perhaps show videos on the surface of the car. “There are all kinds of effects that might be available to use the car like a canvas,” he said. “Other new aspects may include cars with electric drive that can move sideways.” Josh Hart, owner of Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, is a believer in the future of electric high performance and custom cars and feels electric racers and customs will be more prevalent when electric street automobiles become more affordable in five to 10 years. Hart had at least four of his Burnyzz team members involved with Garlits' most recent record run in the “Quest for 200 Miles Per Hour on Batteries” effort in Bradenton June 8th. “The cost of operating an A-fuel or nitro methane alcohol dragster is about $1,000 a second for fuel and maintenance only,” Hart said. “After each run, the engine has to be checked, 16 plugs changed and the lower end and possibly top end rebuilt.” Hart said the “per-pass” cost to power an electric dragster is in the range of 10 cents, and the cost to construct a top-level electric dragster from the ground-up is in the range of $300,000. Hart has plans to build a mirror image of the Garlits electric dragster for exhibitions overseen by longtime drag racer Remo DiGenova and crew members Dave Tomey and Adam DiGenova, Remo's brother. The Burnyzz team also runs a sub-five-second 500-cubic-inch Hemi-powered A-fuel rail dragster. Hart said his shop, which also is filled with conventional ICE engine project cars, including a 1964 Buick Riviera and highly customized panel truck, will soon begin building an all-electric 1932 Ford hot rod for a client in Massachusetts. Add on engine-exhaust sound effects were discussed. Tony Gonyon with Burnyzz ... said he sees a place for electric dragsters in the NHRA Junior Dragster youth program. Michael Carpenter of BRC (Because Race Car Performance) Speed Shop in Ocala said he sees electrics as more of a “personal hobby” now. Carpenter's shop appears to stay busy getting higher performance out of gasoline engines ... Koch said although a “dyed-in-the-wool ICE fan” might see the upcoming electric technology as a “threat,” the hot-rod community in his area has been very open to electric vehicles. [© 2014 Ocala.com] For all EVLN posts use: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date http://www.minews26.com/content/?p=32297&cpage=1#comment-163403 Boy Scout Constructs Bat Housing Using GM-donated Volt pih pack covers http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/10228251/Nissans-real-world-EV-is-here Nissan's real world EV is here for NZ even w/o government assistance http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/electric-shuttles-to/1233346.html COMET EVs replacing Manila's iconic popular & inexpensive jeepney-ice http://www.theautofuture.com/2014/07/02/hertz-zem2all-partner/ Hertz & Zem2All Create Additional EV Mobility in across Spain http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-01/news/transport-malta-receives-first-bmw-i3-5681086464/ First BMW i3 EV arrives in Malta ... http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2014/Jul/First-BMW-i3-arrives-in-Malta/0438015300 http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2014/7/7/etrel-launches-ev-smart-charger/52900/ Etrel launches smart 22kW type-2 EV charger ... http://etrel.co.uk/grid/whats_included + EVLN: Aquila e-surfboards> high-speed cruising, carving & freestyling (video) {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-High-performance-electric-cars-signal-the-end-of-the-ICE-age-tp4670349.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
