{"id":6226,"date":"2012-07-12T10:23:37","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T17:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=6226"},"modified":"2012-07-12T10:23:38","modified_gmt":"2012-07-12T17:23:38","slug":"running-a-mile-in-very-new-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/running-a-mile-in-very-new-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Running a Mile in Very New Shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lola-Drayson LeMans Prototype (LMP) did not make it to this year\u2019s LeMans race at the Sarthe track, but did make its racing debut at another prestigious motorsports event \u2013 the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb in England.\u00a0 Nowhere near as long or treacherous as America\u2019s Pikes Peak event, the race is a good test of acceleration, handling and sheer power, which the car displayed with great style.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sd-vAq4IDRA<\/p>\n

Lord Paul Drayson, a former science advisor to the Crown, drove the B12\/69EV, a car crammed with new technologies, many of which have been reported on in this blog, and which have potential applications in aircraft.\u00a0 He also set a new record for electric cars in the climb, doing a timed run of 53.91 seconds and placing 11th overall in the July 1 run.\u00a0 Goodwood\u2019s hill climb is only 1.86 kilometers (1.16 miles) with a mere 9 turns, and the fastest official time up the slope was the 1999 McLaren F1\u2019s 41.6 seconds for a speed of 100.385 mph.\u00a0 Formula 1 cars were banned for safety reasons, after several accidents and deaths marred these attempts.\u00a0 Oddly, the video gives little sense of the dangers involved.<\/p>\n

B12\/69EV\u2019s key technological innovations include structural batteries developed by BAE Systems<\/a>.\u00a0 Two years ago, the blog reported on Dr. Emile Greenhalgh\u2019s findings<\/a> at London\u2019s Imperial College that a sandwich of carbon fiber sheets on either side of a fiberglass sheet could store electricity \u2013 just like a battery.\u00a0 Volvo picked up on this and is incorporating components that not only provide structural integrity, but extend the range of electric vehicles.\u00a0 According to BAE, \u201cFor the Lola Drayson B12\/69EV, Structural Battery technology offers the opportunity to house power for some onboard electronic systems within the structure, allowing the main batteries to be dedicated to propelling the car. We are working in partnership with Lola’s engineering teams to develop the manufacturing processes and techniques to scale the capability from existing laboratory demonstrators to meet the structural and power requirements for large scale applications.\u201d\u00a0 These \u201clarge scale applications\u201d could conceivably include full auto-body batteries.<\/p>\n

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Lola-Drayson LMP crammed with innovative materials and technologies<\/p><\/div>\n

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) are normally associated with braking or (on internal-combustion cars) exhaust heat recovery converted into stored power in batteries or flywheels.\u00a0 Multimatic supplies the Lola with shock absorbers that convert suspension action into a source of battery recharging.\u00a0 These DSERD (Dynamic Suspensions Energy Recovery Dampers)<\/a> take energy that would otherwise be dissipated and transfer it to capacitors that store it for power bursts or energizing other onboard systems.<\/p>\n

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DSERDs cover batteries on Lola-Drayson LMP<\/p><\/div>\n

Batteries are a special blend of A123 nanophosphate units assembled into a $250,000 pack by Bill Dub\u00e9 and undoubtedly assisted by his wife Eva Hakanssen<\/a>, both speakers at this year\u2019s Electric Aircraft Symposium. \u00a0The cells provide 15 minutes of extreme power, more than enough to tackle even Pikes Peak.<\/p>\n

Motors are derivatives of the Oxford YASA<\/a> (Yokeless and Segmented Armature) units, and all together put out 850 horsepower.<\/p>\n

A plate beneath the car can pick up electrical energy from a ground-mounted plate and inductively recharge the car\u2019s batteries without a plug-in connection, thanks to Halo IPT<\/a> (Inductive Power Transfer) technology.\u00a0 This may be developed into a system where race tracks or roads could have charging strips installed under the asphalt or concrete to power EVs without the need to stop for recharging at all.\u00a0 Such inductive charging schemes are being planned for European airports, where wheel-driven landing gear<\/a> on aircraft would reduce fuel needs by 15 to 20 percent on short-haul jetliners.<\/p>\n

As a grace note for the environment, the Lola-Drayson incorporates many recycled carbon fiber materials in its construction, adding to the luster of its British racing green finish.<\/p>\n