high voltage competition
High voltage competition — Helmet secured, Mike Willmon tightens his grip on the wheel and prepares for another run in Crazy Horse, his electric-powered ’78 Ford Pinto drag racer. His car can go from zero to 60 mph in 3 ½ seconds (360 volt pack; 1,500 amps, 400 hp to the wheels). Alaska resident Willmon is president of the National Electric Drag Racing Association. Of NEDRA’s 150 or so members, 75 percent are devoted drag racers like Willmon. NEDRA events are planned at established drag sites through the summer. Cars and cycles compete in 1/8- and ¼-mile events in categories based on available voltage. Last fall, Scotty Pollacheck aboard the 375-volt bike called the Killa-Cycle hit 174 mph in a quarter-mile run at a Colorado strip – considered the fastest any electric vehicle has covered the distance. The 175 mph barrier should fall this year. Willmon said electric racing is speed on the cheap: one run for a gas car can cost $20 in fuel. An electric car can get a day of racing – 10 runs in all — for $20 including costs of running a tow-along 16K recharging generator.
Leave a Comment June 19, 2009
