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Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:14 am
by EV_dub
I contacted the HSA recently about electric vehicles competing in hill climbs. To my suprise this was their response:

"I really don't have much info on what the MSA's view on electric cars in competition is. I suspect it is still too early and off their radar. Reading Autosport they don't seem to have got their act together with LPG powered cars and they have been around for quite a while.
As far as we are concerned I can't see any events we go to providing for electric cars in the near future other than demonstrations"

I have now contacted the MSA for their input.

Has anybody on here been involved electric motor sport? or heard of electric vehicles competing in hill climbing?

Dave

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:46 pm
by MaryRCrumpton
There is quite a bit of EV motorsport / competitions about.

We have our BVS Electrathon in September (see elsewhere on the forum - the Events Section).

And then there is the TTXGP series... http://www.ttxgp.com

And the Santa Pod event in April/May next year.

Keep an eye out on the events listing in the society magazine.

Mary.

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:48 am
by retepsnikrep
Many years ago (20+) I entered a local autotest with my electric hillman imp. It had a old 60v milk float motor running at about 100V and a stepped contactor controller at that point which i hacked to allow higher voltage steps. It launched itself from a standing start and i seem to remember i finished about middle of the field. :oops:

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:27 pm
by EV_dub
Yea theres a few events about, but it would be good to run along with the oil burners.

I made Santa Pod this year and intend to be there again.

I got a copy of the Competitors and officials yearbook (the blue book) from the MSA which is full of useful info about most types of motor sport.

I get the impression regarding hill climbs with an electric car, that you should be able to take part but wont fit into a particular category so wouldnt gain points/awards.

I am still awaiting a reply from the MSA.

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:14 am
by andylaurence
The Blue Book doesn't specifically ban electric cars but it does say that there are extra regulations that you need to contact the MSA for. When I spoke to the championship coordinator of the British Sprint Championship, he said that they'd worry about regulations for an electric car when one was actually built. You could certainly enter a car, but you'd be in Sports Libre or Racing Cars, depending on what car you converted, and I've no idea which engine capacity you'd end up in. Technically, you'd be <1800cc Sports Libre or <600cc Racing Cars, but they'd probably make a special rule to put you in a higher class if you turned up with 700bhp of electric power!

I'm looking at turning my ADR into a hybrid in the future with the addition of a few motors and a few cells. It's pretty quick now, so an extra 100bhp should do nicely!

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:57 am
by timpootle
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog3/?p=180
Tesla competing at Goodwood

"Earlier this year, the UK’s motorsport governing body, the Motor Sport Association, assessed the performance and safety criteria for electric vehicles competing in UK Motorsport. Finally, motor racing clubs could create competing classes for EVs."

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:52 pm
by floydster
You could possibly enter as road going (if it is road legal). I haven't raced for a few years but I seem to remember that that road going cars had to be filled with pump fuel. So is mains electricity classed as pumped fuel? Maybe you could argue that you don't need fuel, depends on how the rules are interpreted.

If it was me I'd take the car along to a MSA scruitineer prior to entering have a chat and go over the car.

Floydster

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:01 am
by andylaurence
floydster wrote:You could possibly enter as road going (if it is road legal). I haven't raced for a few years but I seem to remember that that road going cars had to be filled with pump fuel. So is mains electricity classed as pumped fuel? Maybe you could argue that you don't need fuel, depends on how the rules are interpreted.

If it was me I'd take the car along to a MSA scruitineer prior to entering have a chat and go over the car.

Floydster

You definitely could not enter a converted electric car into production as the original engine must remain in the original location. Class C may be possible, although it's more likely you'd end up in Class D (Sports Libre), which makes a conversion an unlikely winner. The only way to really make a competitive electric car would be to convert a pre-existing race car. Anything else will not be competitive in the class it would be placed into. Convert a Radical (or similar) or a single seater would be my suggestion. You can pick up an old Formula Vauxhall Junior or a Jedi for a few grand, convert it and race in the appropriate class.

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:33 am
by booboo
We built a special C5 (and called it "Challenger") to tackle Test Hill at Brooklands Museum;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPzWE6Myw8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGMqoaJ-E-I

...much to our surprise , the "Challenger" c5 was the first ever electric vehicle to achieve it ! The Museum even awarded us a cert5ificate for doing so :D . I understand that an electric motorcycle as since managed it as well. If you fancy testing your own electric vehicle out on Test Hill at Brooklands, it might be worth giving them a call.

With the BVS electrathon and the Santa Pod AER events, it looks as though the number of events catering for electric vehicles is slowly building.

Re: Electric Hill climbing/motorsport

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:55 pm
by floydster
andylaurence wrote:
floydster wrote:You could possibly enter as road going (if it is road legal). I haven't raced for a few years but I seem to remember that that road going cars had to be filled with pump fuel. So is mains electricity classed as pumped fuel? Maybe you could argue that you don't need fuel, depends on how the rules are interpreted.

If it was me I'd take the car along to a MSA scruitineer prior to entering have a chat and go over the car.

Floydster

You definitely could not enter a converted electric car into production as the original engine must remain in the original location. Class C may be possible, although it's more likely you'd end up in Class D (Sports Libre), which makes a conversion an unlikely winner. The only way to really make a competitive electric car would be to convert a pre-existing race car. Anything else will not be competitive in the class it would be placed into. Convert a Radical (or similar) or a single seater would be my suggestion. You can pick up an old Formula Vauxhall Junior or a Jedi for a few grand, convert it and race in the appropriate class.


You're right, sort of. I was getting confused with engine mods are free. However, I raced mod-prod with a road legal car. the blue book stated (back then) that engine mods were free as long as the engine fitted was by the original manufacturer. My engine is definately not the original type, I competed in many speed events and I'm planning to do a few next year with the same setup.

Anyway, this still doesn't answer the question. I'd still take the car along to a well know scruitineer for a chat and good going over.

Floydster