It's 32 feet long, it's yellow and it's fast. And promoters are hoping it will top a speed record.
3 min read
Electric car poised to tear up the desert
Developers of the 32-foot long ABB E-motion are hoping it can beat the land speed record for electric cars. The auto, which is powered by technology from ABB, a Switzerland-based electrical engineering company, is trying to best the current record of 245 mph. To do so, the ABB E-motion will have to travel at 252 mph in two runs, each of which must be at least 0.622 miles long.
Frank Griffith works with the car's drive control before a test run Wednesday in Nevada. The car has no mechanical gears. Its acceleration is controlled by two variable speed ABB drives that regulate two 50-horsepower electric motors. The team had been hoping to go for the record on Thursday, but windy conditions and mechanical problems forced a delay until Friday.
The ABB E-motion relies on four packs of 52 lead acid batteries. A "regenerative standard inverter" converts the 600V DC power generated by the batteries into AC power that's then used by the car's motors.
Designer Colin Fallows and driver Mark Newby with the ABB E-motion in Tunisia, in 2004. The team had traveled there with the hopes of breaking the speed record on the Tunisian salt flats, but weather conditions forced them to cancel the attempt.