WSJ Front Page: Those Muscle Cars On the Drag Strip Are Really Electric

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Those Muscle Cars On the Drag Strip Are Really Electric
Clunker Run on Batteries Trounces Latest 'Gassers';
John Wayland's Close Call
By JOHN J. FIALKA
August 1, 2007; Page A1

PORTLAND, Ore. -- On a recent Friday night at the Portland International Raceway, John Wayland scanned the dragsters, looking for an opponent for his geeky looking 1972 Datsun sedan. Finally, he challenged the owner of a souped-up 2005 Corvette, the hottest-looking car at the track, to a quarter-mile race.

<embedded video> See how an electric car dubbed the White Zombie is leaving conventional muscle cars in the dust.

When the starting light flashed, the Datsun, known as White Zombie, shot silently past the Corvette and kept widening the lead as the two cars faded into the distance. "Oh man, right off the line he had me," said the Corvette's owner, Robert Akers, shaking his head.

Electric cars are typically known for their fuel efficiency and environmental bona fides, not for their speed and muscle. But Mr. Wayland, 47 years old, is changing that, and has become something of a hero to a small group of hot rodders dedicated to humiliating gasoline-powered cars. The night White Zombie beat the Corvette, it also trounced two other "gassers," as Mr. Wayland calls them -- a blue BMW and a bright orange 1964 Pontiac Tempest.

The electric-car racers, who go by nicknames like "Father Time" and "Electric Louis," hope to jump-start public interest in electric vehicles. "Getting electric cars going in the U.S. has been like shoveling sand into a tsunami," says Roderick Wilde, who sometimes races here in his electric-powered Mazda.

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[greenman3610]

1. Yay! Electric cars have testosterone too!

Great Story:

Alt-fuel advocate (and ex-CIA head) James Woolsey was taking a test drive in a Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motors' CEO Martin Eberhard was sitting shotgun. When the Corvette pulled up next to them, Martin just smiled and told Woolsey to "Take him." Then, the all-electric supercar "left the Corvette driver with one question when he caught up at the next light: 'What is that?'"

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/07/02/are-you-kidding-me-woolsey-and-eberhard-drag-racing-in-a-tesla/

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Works for me-- electric motors are...

far more efficient than common gas ones and have a much better power curve.

The only problem is energy storage-- the density of a tank of gas or diesel is much higher than a trunk full of batteries. Once we get that solved, and we will, we're off!

And-- never forget that racing is one of the main drivers of auto technology and bragging points. When electrics get credibility on the track, they'll get a lot more on the street.

[greenman3610]

3. feed your mind

and google


"v2g"

[TreasonousBastard]

4. That's just silly on the surface...

because after the cars feed the grid, the batteries have to be recharged to run the car.

Doh! Where's the saving? Feeding the grid only works with renewable sources, like wind.

Now, maybe fuel cells might be able to do this sensibly in the future, and there are applications where cars and trucks can be dual use as generators, but neither of these answer questions of sustainability or enhance the grid.