- A joint venture has been formed to pursue the creation of electric racing cars.
- The American Le Mans Series and IMSA are partnering with Quimera of Barcelona, Spain.
- Quimera's primary mission is the management of sustainable energy projects in urban areas.
BRASELTON, Georgia — Two American sports car racing organizations have joined forces with Quimera, an ensemble focused on new-generation transportation and mobility solutions, to lead auto racing into its next era — which, they contend, will be based on electric vehicles.
The American Le Mans Series and IMSA, acronym for International Motor Sports Association, announced the joint venture Thursday to "develop the next generation of sustainable motorsport."
Quimera, a word from Greek mythology which like its synonym "chimera" means "illusion," is made up of various multinational corporations concerned with the management of sustainable projects in metropolitan and urban areas. It is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.
The two racing organizations are working with Quimera toward the objective of organizing a global championship using racecars that do not run on fossil fuels. Research and development efforts are focusing on four areas — GT, Touring GT, F3 type open-wheel and TTXGP motorcycle.
"We have often quoted the fact that the most important race in the world is the race among automobile manufacturers to develop new sustainable transportation solutions," ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton said.
Atherton stressed the commitment of ALMS to green racing. Sports car racing has led the way in the modern era in exploring alternative technologies, and turbodiesel-powered prototypes fielded by Audi and Peugeot have risen to the top of the heap.
Mitsubishi is among the auto manufacturers that have expressed keen interest in electric racecars, and Formula 1's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, announced in April 2011 it is working with representatives of the European Commission to develop a racing series for electric vehicles.
In America, the Izod IndyCar Series converted several years ago to ethanol fuel. NASCAR is now using a blend of gasoline and ethanol.
Inside Line says: Hard-core traditionalists will likely scoff at this "illusion" of technological magic. While a definitive answer may be a long time coming, skeptics should remember the attitude toward the first "horseless carriages" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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duck87 says:
07:45 AM, 01/18/2012
TTxGP is the only current "legitimate" EV race (a fairly good one at times). I don't think the technology is ready for 4 wheeled, prime-time racing.
church123 says:
09:06 AM, 01/17/2012
Not irrelevant? What were the viewer numbers for ALMS races? The ones that were actually broadcast?...
That's what I thought. And electric racing isn't going to make ALMS more attractive to motorsports fans.
says:
01:14 PM, 01/16/2012
Hi there, just some quick answer to some of the questions:
1) 1919diesel, no, we are not planning to have pit stops to replace batteries. Battery swapping systems have been already developed in our group but we consider there's still room for improvement so we are not planning to use them yet
2) we are not planning, obviously, to race over the same distances as ECI race cars. Two 10 to 12 laps legs per category plus free practice plus qualifying
3) mk40 if you please google quimera aegt01 you may find interesting an on-board video from our NOV27 testing session. you'll see the whole thing is pretty noisy due the triple engine thing, the gearbox and other mechanics around. Honestly, I can't say is the silent type of thing you might be expecting from an electric car
4) we are racers ourselves too and we love all the v8 and v12 stuff. however, what we are trying to provide is a platform to test and learn in the toughest possible environment. lab testing is probably not enough at this stage
5) church123, well I don't think ALMS is irrelevant at all and they've been showing a pretty decent level of committment. this step we are taking together is just raising the bar again and IMSA and ALMS have proven to be a perfect test ground for some other developments. besides, motor sport has always been like that in the sense of being the living lab for developments later to be applied in the automotive industry.
6) I can't agree more in relation with your statement about spain and the way the money has been literally thrown away in the pursuit of the so called "green" whatever. is not that it's only spain but certainly spain has been at the forefront of screwing up tax payers money in that regard.
however, if this makes you feel more comfortable, we have received not one single euro of public subsidies and the total investment has been carried out by private investors
7) I also agree with you that rules in the motor sport field, not just for diesels, can be somehow unfair when a new technology pops out to the field. however, if you want to test you have to promote and motivate the players and, although we were kidn of pretty badly screwed up by this regulations in the past, i understand that in certain moments, you have to make a bet
8) indeed, batteries are far far less efficient in terms of energy density that hydrocarbon fuels. but the gap is closing, slowly but steadily.
honestly, we do believe that it won't be an epic fail or a fail at all although we are sure it will take time to overcome reluctancy and skepticism in certain environments.
many thanks to all
quimera_team
1919diesel says:
09:03 AM, 01/16/2012
So are they going to have pit stops where they replace batteries in 5 seconds instead of refueling? And how often will they have to pit, every 10 laps or so? I mean, how can they hope to get the same distance on the track at high speed as gas-powered cars? If a Leaf can't even go 40-50 miles on a charge, how will they run 300, 400, 500 mile races? It will take forever!
mk40 says:
08:06 AM, 01/16/2012
Electric powertrains are very responsive and give strong, seamless performance, but are rather quiet and boring. I don't think race fans would like this.
I think there are better ways to conserve oil than taking it out of racing. I really think racing should follow rather than lead when it comes to EVs. I just don't see racing really helping the development of new battery technologies which is R&D at what are essentially chemical companies. There is no need for race cars to test batteries... this can all be done in the lab with rapid recharge and drain cycles. Batteries are not mechanically connected to the drivetrain.
church123 says:
07:46 AM, 01/16/2012
As if ALMS needed to make itself more irrelevant.
1) Spain has been a glorious leading light of failure for the EU in subsidizing "green" energy and "sustainable" technologies. In fact, they've been in the process of rolling back all those subsidies and investments as their economy tanks and "green" jobs fail to live up to their hype.
2) The _only_ reason diesels have been successful in endurance racing is that the rules have been tailored to give them an advantage. Lots more boost and more displacement than gasoline engines, and originally they were allowed to run the same fuel quantity as well (diesel is a higher energy content fuel). If displacement and boost levels had been fixed regardless of fuel type, the diesels wouldn't have been competitive even with one class lower cars.
3) This isn't a "horseless carriage" transition. This is simply a change in energy storage technology. And batteries are far less energy dense than liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Epic Fail