Confirmation the Lola Drayson Racer Will Participate at the Formula E

After years of intensive prototype testing, the Lola-Drayson EV racer is ready to battle it out on the newly sanctioned FIA Formula E series.

The gist is we’ve have been saying since the early years that electric vehicles, EV will pick up the recognition it deserves when they are seen racing and winning competitions. Pikes Peak and TTXGrandPrix have been early examples of what EVs can achieve. Now the FIA has sanctioned a Formula E to let electric racers duke it out on the track. Lola-Grayson announced its Le Mans prototype racing Lola-Drayson B12/69EV at the 2012 Low Carbon Racing Conference.

Technically Speaking. The B12/69EV is as far away removed from your glorified golf cart as the starship Enterprise is to a horse cart. With over 850 hp and over 220 mph, it is on par with modern day racers and will compete in the glorious Le Mans prototype race. Using tried and true Lithium Nanophosphate® battery cells made exclusively by A123 Systems, they are housed in a battery pack manufactured by Mavizen, also well known in the motorcycle EV world. The 700V pack sports around 60 kWh. The drivetrain consists of four axial flux Oxford YASA motors using inverters supplied by Rhinehart, rated at over 212 hp each, giving the overall 850 hp. According to the Drayson Racing Technologies site, the EV racer weighs 1000 kg, about 2,204 lbs, a little over the regular 2,000 lbs allowed in LMP1 racing. The control system for the EV racer is done by the Drayson Racing Technologies team who partnered with Cosworth.

Fast Charging, Racing’s Achilles’ Heel. Fast recharging is not only a concern for EV daily drivers, it becomes even more so in the racing world. To this effect, the companies have worked on a system dubbed HaloIPT, a wireless induction system using coils on the floor where the EV makes pit stops to quickly recharge.

As we have said before, racing sales and nothing will sell more the future of EV than that. It’s only fair, after all gas cars got their reputation when they hit the race tracks and started winning. If you would like to see what an EV racer looks like on the track, head on over to YouTube and do a search for “electric ev racer”.

Enough said, move over rover, there’s something leaner that will leave your socks behind and etch a definitive EV grin on you adrenaline seeking face. The EV era is here to stay!