Daytona 500 with electric cars

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
1

I was wondering how long it would be until they ran the Daytona 500 with electric cars.

I found an article about the topic

recharging might make the race last 6 hours and the lack of being able to reach speeds above 120 mph might take some of the excitement away from the race

2

Ok…and?

3

Simple solution. Cut down on the number of laps. The race is too long as it is.

Also, run a two speed transmission.

Electric cars can easily hit 200 miles per hour. The issue is that most electric designs, for the sake of simplicity and to improve energy efficiency, eschew a transmission and use a direct drive set up, where the electric engine is essentially housed in a differential case and is connected directly to the drive wheel.

Both Porsche and Audi use a two speed transmission in their electric driveline designs. First gear is optimized for every day driving, up to 115 miles per hour. Above that, they engage second gear which gives them a top speed of around 170 miles per hour.

The downside to the Porsche/Audi approach is thag just the existence of a gearbox hurts your electric economy. And it increases complexity.

The entire point of electric vehicles is to improve efficiency and use the inherent simplicity of electric motors to increase reliability. Adding a transmission hurts those objectives.

4

When NASCAR actually runs stock cars around a track, I might bother taking a look.

There hasn’t been anything approaching a stock car raced by NASCAR since the early 1980’s.

I can’t remember the last time I watched the stupid little clone cars go around in circles.

1 Like
5

Aww, what’s the matter? Aren’t you a fan of left turns?

6

Left turns are fine.

They just need to be making them in real stock cars.

  1. Take your ass down to the dealership and buy a car out of the dealer’s “stock.”
  2. Take out the glass and put in safety glass.
  3. Rip out the interior and install a roll cage and a safety seat.
  4. Weld the doors shut.
  5. Put on some racing tires.
  6. Go racing.

That is stock car racing.

Something that NASCAR hasn’t done in at least 40 full years.

7

Or they may have the incentive to develop a way to quickly change the battery(ies) to drop in sets they charged right before the race.

8

NASCAR starts their races at speed. 35 in the pit areas, then hammer down. I wonder if they could have a single front wheel drive motor, geared lower to get from pit to track. Then switch over to the rear drivetrain, using the front powered wheel to regenerate.

9

I don’t disagree. The car of tomorrow pretty much ruined it for me.

10

The FIA has run electric car motorsport in the Formula E (street circuit) and Extreme E (off-road) circuits. A few NASCAR and INDYCAR officials are part of the FIA Tribunal that hears cases from those series, and they are part of ACCUS, which governs the New York round.