Whats the secret to get these "embeds" to work? Got "Miscellaneous Options" clicked at the bottom of the page. And this is the embed link. Either way its pretty impressive what this guy did with a couple of fork lift motors.

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That is a slick setup, you think he picked the Datsun body, just to trick anyone who wants to race? :)

Here is the race website http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/whitezombie.php

To bad the batteries won't hold a charge, all day.


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Not to be a nay saying smart a@@, but...

A '72 Datsun is not exactly running in the same league as a modern car. By this, I mean safety equipment. How much weight would be added to that car to bring it to modern crash standards? The builder can get away with it because he will not sue himself in the event of an accident. He has no air conditioning, and it takes 20 minutes to re-charge after only a 12 second pass. I am sure his useable range is very limited as the owner will only state "At least a quarter mile!"

We can build a sand-rail that would be faster than his electric Datsun and "greener" too, but it goes down that slope of what we all agree is a "car". His driveline installed into a modern 3000lb+ car with airbags, antilock brakes, stability control, crumple zones, etc. would be the same speed as a Maxima but his range would be even more limited. His "high performance" is due to extremely light weight (1858lbs according to his website)

And he sorta ignores what charges his batteries. In fact, battery electric vehicles are no better than modern gasoline cars for emissions and efficiency. The combustion car does not have all the transmission/conversion losses of the battery electrics. All that copper wiring and those transformers between the power plant and the end user results in losses from the original energy source (coal, natural gas, nuke, hydroelectric). Then, it gets converted to chemical energy by the charging system, then back to electricity, then to mechanical motion in the motor windings.

Don't use the "EMBED" link on Youtube, just copy the URL into your post and the 'zone will recognize the link as video.

YouTube - Electric Car Drag Racing | Oregon Field Guide | OPB

Not to be a nay saying smart a@@, but...

You welcome; saves me the bother of typing a lot. :)

Now if he charged the batteries using a pedal driven generator then I would be impressed.

You welcome; saves me the bother of typing a lot. :)

Now if he charged the batteries using a pedal driven generator then I would be impressed.

Or solar panels, or windmill, or ... :D

Why would anyone want/need air conditioning, in a drag car? :rolleyes:


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Why would anyone want/need air conditioning, in a drag car? :rolleyes:


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To keep the batteries cool. (?):)

Why would anyone want/need air conditioning, in a drag car? :rolleyes:


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Because tree hugging nutjobs in OREGON think everyone should live in some climate where the temps never vary more than +/- 20*F.

If it's a drag car, who cares about emissions? That guy clearly thinks smoking the tires is perfectly acceptable to the environment.
:confused:

My drag car is getting the A/C put back on. Makes it more enjoyable to drive to the track. :)

I should not be so harsh. :argue:

The car looks well done. The engineering is well thought out and the execution clean and neat. I wish I was as familiar with electricity as he is. The car is surely a hoot and giggle to drive.

My objection is not his car, it's the agenda the guy and program are pushing. His anti-pollution angle while burning rubber tires. His faster-than-a-Vette by driving a death-trap beer can filled with $4000 worth of lead acid batteries and only a seat belt for safety equipment. It's like listening to Al Gore tell me I have to curtail my behaviors while he gets in a jet to go bail his son out of jail for criminal speeding while under the influence.

I really didn't pay the guy much attention, just thought it was cool how they had everything setup. Plenty of tourqe off the line, I bet the batteries were about dead at the finish. ;)


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Yeah, cool work on the car but the line about being enviromentally friendly...please, large battery banks charged from grid power are about as un-enviromentally friendly as it gets. Bit of a shame really as this fact took away from an otherwise cool car.

Russell.

The guy in the Vett had two missed shifts. He went from 1st to third then missed fourth. Clearly set up.


LOL I'll still take the Vett, I love Trees, but Zoooooooommmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!:)

Personally I think it is cool.
His agenda aside, he really has no equal on the track.
He couldn't really race for money. There is no class for electric cars. At least not yet.
I had seen the bike before and I was equally impressed with it.

Certainly not the answer for green running, but if he used a natural gas generator to charge the batts instead, he might get a little closer. Or perhaps using fuel cells to charge.

However I gotta say that racing isn't all about fuel efficiency or being nice to rubber tires. It's about the elapsed time through the 1/8th or the 1/4.
You gotta give him his due. He smoked em. :)

I didn't know it was so much of this stuff out there.

Check this site:
www.nedra.com

0-60 in 3.9 seconds if I recall correctly.....dropped my jaw Monday night!


http://digg.com/environment/Top_Gear_reviews_Tesla_smokes_Lotus_Elise#

I didn't know it was so much of this stuff out there.

Check this site:
www.nedra.com

I had no idea either.
It mentioned it was the first annual race, so it's all fairly new.

Not to be a nay saying smart a@@, but...

Snip..



Um Caprirs, are you saying a modern day Vet-Body funny car does meet all these codes? Are you saying a 68' Camero w/ a 396 & a M22, meets the same codes? I think if it's taken in the light it was presented... it's pretty impressive. I know that Killacycle was showcasing super light batteries w/ a fairly decent power density [in a drag bike]. I'm by no means any expert on the technology but you've gotta give credit where credit is due.. the car MOVES... period.

I read a couple sites a year or 2 back, that said guys were adding used starter motors from jet airplanes, to drive the faster electric diy cars.


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I read a couple sites a year or 2 back, that said guys were adding used starter motors from jet airplanes, to drive the faster electric diy cars.


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That seems to be CHEATING a little:)

I'm sure they will soon have sub classes in the electric division. Super modifed golf carts, Funny Jet Starters and maybe battleship generator motors. ;) They are mostly obsolete now anyway.

I read a couple sites a year or 2 back, that said guys were adding used starter motors from jet airplanes, to drive the faster electric diy cars.


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you guy's seen the bar stool racers that use a 12v car battery and a ford starter? Kinda impressive how fast they are as well..

Um Caprirs, are you saying a modern day Vet-Body funny car does meet all these codes? Are you saying a 68' Camero w/ a 396 & a M22, meets the same codes? I think if it's taken in the light it was presented... it's pretty impressive. I know that Killacycle was showcasing super light batteries w/ a fairly decent power density [in a drag bike]. I'm by no means any expert on the technology but you've gotta give credit where credit is due.. the car MOVES... period.


As I revised in my subsequent post, I was being too harsh. At no point did I compare his '72 Datsun to a jungle gym of tubing with a carbon/kevlar flopper body running nitromethane. The '68 Camaro comparision may be more valid though.

I think the car is probably a lot of fun and the workmanship looks quite good. My objection is the Oregon Public Broadcasting Company (always the authority on feats of engineering) presenting a story about an electric drag racer. I suppose Martha Stewart will present the next episode of Futureweapons? The producers know their audience and present accordingly.

The electric car beats Corvettes (because everyone in viewer land knows Corvette = fast). The implication is that the Big Three could be building us Hard Working Americans inexpensive all electric vehicles (which everyone knows are Zero Emissions) to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil with the same performance as a new Vette, but there's this conspiracy and collusion between the oil companies, automakers, and big government who are on the payroll of oil companies and automakers to keep us addicted to oil and keep us engaged in wars the world over.

Again, I think the guy did something kinda neat (not practical, just neat) in building the car's drivetrain. But using $4000 worth of lead acid batteries to create clouds of burning rubber hardly constitues eco-friendly.

This can be pulled either way. Honestly until we come up with a better mode of transportation like personal aircraft that will run on air, water, and sunlight we are all in the same boat.

The Gov't and Oil Companies won't allow this so what is the alternative???

Lets go back to Horse and Buggy:)

i think its funny that he is making him self out to be some environmental messiah. The power to charge the car is mostly likely coming from a smoke belching coal generator.. the smoke off his tires isn't much good for the environment also.

also a 12.5 sec time slip isn't really all that impressive.

all in all its cool that he made a 12.5 sec electric car. but in the end of the day a modern fbody or mustang with simple mods like cai and exhaust would run side by side with that car for incredibly less money.

My son and I have a 1986 Mustang with a 302 at 2840 lbs that would not have any problem beating him as of Sunday 4/26/09 we went 11.38 at 121mph and it spun a little off the line or I think it would have been in the 11.1 range.

Its all about running the right car to make his run look great.


But as a racer what he did with his electric car is amazing, but not as enviromentally friendly as he would like us to think.

I still think horse and buggy is better:)