{"id":4658,"date":"2021-11-16T17:23:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T17:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-high-speed-electric-vehicle-racing-is-advancing-tech"},"modified":"2021-11-16T21:58:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T21:58:01","slug":"how-high-speed-electric-vehicle-racing-is-advancing-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-high-speed-electric-vehicle-racing-is-advancing-tech","title":{"rendered":"How high-speed electric vehicle racing is advancing tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>An electric scooter that can go 100 kmph (62 mph)? Meet the sleek new machine that\u2019s designed to leave the clunky scooters you see buzzing around suburban High Streets, in the dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a race vehicle,\u201d says Nicola Scimeca, founder of YCOM, a motorsport technology firm. \u201cIt\u2019s completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The S1-X, which was designed by his company, has inflatable tyres, a 1.5 kilowatt hour battery and a carbon fibre chassis. And according to Mr Scimeca, it offers an unexpectedly steady ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was really impressive was the confidence it gives to you,\u201d he adds, recalling his own initial test-ride.<\/p>\n

And, of course, there was no noise from the exhaust, instead, Mr Scimeca says he could hear the squeal of the electric motor as it sped up and down, and the thrum of the tyres as they gripped the track.<\/p>\n

The S1-X is a brand new racing vehicle. It will be used by all competitors at next year\u2019s eSkootr Championship, the world\u2019s first e-scooter championship event.<\/p>\n

But there are many other electric vehicle (EV) racing events popping-up across the country that are showcasing and championing important advances in EV technology. Formula E has been around for years, but a flood of newer EV racing events have lately zoomed into view.<\/p>\n

Others include the Extreme E race series, which launched earlier this year. In it, electric sports utility vehicles (SUVs) compete in a series of off-road events. And in 2022, SuperCharge will bring EV racing to city streets around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we are really inventing a new sport,\u201d says Mr Scimeca, noting that his team had no real precedent on which to build when they began designing their racing e-scooter. They were even unsure as to how, exactly, riders would handle the vehicle.<\/p>\n

It turns out to be a physically draining task. Riders of high-speed e-scooters have to quickly adjust their stance on almost every corner. Mercifully, however, each heat in the eSkootr Championship will only last four or five minutes \u2013 partly because the relatively small battery embedded in the base of the scooter doesn\u2019t last long. A single charge might cover just three or four heats before the juice runs out, says Mr Scimeca.<\/p>\n

Battery life<\/b><\/p>\n

For any EV racer, a flat battery means game over, so it\u2019s something that the whole racing team needs to consider when turning cars around between heats, says Roger Griffiths, team principal at Andretti United Extreme E.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us that came from conventional motorsport, we were very comfortable with operating internal combustion engine cars,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started running an electric racing car it was very much, \u2018What on Earth are we doing here?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

It can take three to four hours, he says, to turn around a racing EV with a depleted battery, versus one hour for cooling, refuelling and checking over a hot Formula 1 car.<\/p>\n

Safety and weight<\/b><\/p>\n

But there are completely different safety considerations, too, given the high-voltage electronics involved in running EV racing cars. Last month, there were a series of Extreme E races in Sardinia and one of the cars, driven by St\u00e9phane Sarrazin, was badly damaged in a barrel roll. In such cases, engineers must make absolutely sure there are no live electronics exposed, says Mr Griffiths. \u201cYou have to treat it with caution until you know the thing is safe,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

EVs also tend to be a bit heavier than traditional racing vehicles, due to their weighty batteries, however their weight distribution doesn\u2019t change during the race unlike their counterparts running on liquid fuel which gets used up lap-by-lap. So, EVs handle slightly differently for drivers.<\/p>\n

One of the goals of the Extreme E events is to showcase the capabilities and robustness of EVs. The track in Sardinia in Italy was a particularly tough test- being very dusty to begin with, and then increasingly damp as the racing weekend progressed.<\/p>\n

For Extreme E, all drivers compete using a specially-designed electric SUV called the Odyssey 21. The cars get their power from on-site generators that use either biofuel or hydrogen, says Mr Griffiths: \u201cWe\u2019re here to demonstrate that these cars can be green.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Odyssey 21\u2019s are also demonstrating technology that could eventually make its way to more humble consumer EVs. A key example is the silicon carbide semiconductors found in Formula E and Extreme E cars. These semiconductors allow for significantly more efficient transfer of power within the vehicle \u2013 potentially offering dozens of miles of additional range on the same battery, says Mr Griffiths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn road cars, this technology is prohibitively expensive but it\u2019s being developed in racing,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

That could bring silicon carbide to everyday EVs sooner than forecast. Interest from the consumer market is strengthening all the time. Analysis from global accounting and consultancy firm EY suggests that EVs will become dominant on roads in Europe by 2028, five years sooner than expected.<\/p>\n

Racing EVs are becoming more popular at events here in the UK too. Shirley Gibson is championship coordinator for the Retro Rallycross and all-electric Electro Rallycross championships. The latter launched in 2021.<\/p>\n

Ms Gibson has helped lead the adoption of EVs in British racing events. \u201cThe move has to be made and it has to be made now to secure a more sustainable future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I didn\u2019t want to be too late in getting this off the ground in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explains that the short heats of five minutes or so in rallycross events \u2013 a mix between rallying and circuit racing- are perfect for electric cars, since they don\u2019t need a lengthy charge to compete.<\/p>\n

Ms Gibson fully supports the development of new EV racing vehicles and the involvement of famous teams and drivers to spur electric racing on. \u201cIt is the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She adds that while some petrol-heads will always grumble about the lack of exhaust noise from electric vehicles, the visual spectacle remains thrilling.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. An electric scooter that can go 100 kmph (62 mph)? Meet the sleek new machine that\u2019s designed to leave the clunky scooters you see buzzing around suburban High Streets, in the dust. \u201cThis is a race vehicle,\u201d says Nicola Scimeca, founder of YCOM, a motorsport technology firm. \u201cIt\u2019s completely different.\u201d The S1-X, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,31],"tags":[760,763,1162,758,1422],"class_list":["post-4658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-electric","tag-rwanda","tag-vehicle"],"yoast_head":"\nHow high-speed electric vehicle racing is advancing tech - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An electric scooter that can go 100 kmph (62 mph)? 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