Battery technology is improving all the time, but
it's still not quite at the level where it can go a full race distance (let
alone a full 24 hours) on a single charge. Formula E's solution is to swap cars
in the middle of the race, but Panoz has a different idea.
Presented at Le Mans today is the Green4U Panoz
Racing GT-EV – a racing prototype power exclusively by electricity, with no
internal combustion engine as we've seen in electrified endurance racers to
date.
Both companies were founded by Don Panoz, the same
man who started the American Le Mans Series before it merged with Grand-Am to
form today's United SportsCar Championship. The product of their joint efforts,
the GT-EV boasts between 400 and 450 kW of power in a
package about as long as a Ferrari GTC4 Lusso, but a fair bit narrower, lower
to the ground, and lighter. At 2,200-2,750 pounds, it's earmarked to tip the
scales at little more than half the big Ferrari's weight – even with all those
batteries in place.
The carbon-fiber chassis helps offset the weight of
the batteries, much as the cockpit is offset to make room for them and keep
everything slung low to cheat the wind. The active aerodynamics aim to help
with that as well, with regenerative braking at each corner helping to keep the
batteries topped up, and the pair of electric motors providing traction to all
four wheels.
The battery packs are designed to be removed so
they can be swapped out during pit stops, not unlike what Better Place had
going, but out the side instead of from the bottom. Running the full distance
of the race at La Sarthe, though, would require a lot of pit stops. More than
once each hour, in fact, as the batteries are forecasted to last a good 100
miles or so under race conditions, and the round-the-clock race covers a good
3,000 miles.
