Re: Lightnings vs. Fords (was: EVTC still going?)

[Mason Convey <opossum@asu.edu>]

+ Ahh, by '"racing"...against Formula Fords' in an earlier message,
+ you meant something like: on the same track, at the same time,
+ usually going the same direction<g>. I was prepared to be very
+ impressed that a Lightning, which I believe is more than twice as
+ heavy as a FF, could keep up!

Yeah, that's about the extent of it, Cliff. A bit earlier in the
message, I mentioned that it was "testing." That's about all it
is. They compete. We test. Them fast. We slow.  :)  And for what it's
worth, our Lightning is now about 2800 pounds race-ready.

+ What is a NASA/ASRA day like? How many sessions does the car
+ run? How many battery packs do you use? Still running the Nicads and
+ the Optimas? How many laps does the car run? Can you charge any
+ between sessions? What kind of watts per mile does your car use?

Lately, we have run two heats per event, one with each Nicad
pack. Generally, there are no accomodations for charging packs at the
track. Once, we made a side trip to charge one pack (quickly) so we
could run a third heat. Yep, Nicads and Optimas. We're looking to
start running something different sometime next year. To be
continued. Watts per mile? We never went out there really caring about
that. Just throw as many electrons at the motors as we could and hope
we could transmit most of that power to the ground. We always had
"bigger fish to fry."

+ What I am trying to get a feel for, is the mechanics of running an
+ electric race car at a regular ICE event.

People are rarely impressed by the vehicle's performance (the racing
types). Some are. But most people generally like us being out there
anyway. It's something *different.* And despite the difference in
speed, most of our previous drivers have absolutely loved driving for
us and being a part of the team. Same reason... it's something
different. Different car, different feel, different concepts. I wish
we could have given YOU that opportunity! Damn controller...

opossum.



     ----- mason s. convey -----

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