Oh Westfield, could we love you any more? Yes we sure could. Westfield, the guys who make a very good rendition of the Lotus Seven, is entering the EV Cup electric car race. And what they’ve come up with looks like a winner right out of the box.
It also looks like “green” and “fun” need not be mutually exclusive, and the spirit of Colin Chapman is alive and well.
Sure, Westfield’s iRACER is a track car and we’ve only seen a rendering. But we all know racing improves the breed, so it could be a a great way to see what works in an EV and what doesn’t. Hopefully, everything Westfield learns on the track will make it into a production version for the street because iRACER is a hot ride from the get-go.
“We are excited by the prospect of racing against other electric vehicles at circuits across Europe and beyond,” said Dr. Paul Faithfull, technical director of Westfield Sportscars. “EV Cup represents a great opportunity for us to develop vehicle technology on the back of this direct competition, a way to benchmark and to show that electric racing can be as dramatic and exciting as conventional motorsport.”
Tipping the scales at a Chapman-esque 600 kilograms (about 1,300 pounds), the iRACER is motivated by a pair of Oxford Yasa motors delivering 80 kilowatts (about 107 horsepower) and a stump-pulling 1,000 Newton-meters (730 foot-pounds) of torque at the wheels. Westfield says the iRACER should do zero to 60 in less than 5 seconds and have an electronically limited top speed of 110mph. Of course the car is rear wheel drive, and it features recyclable bodywork.
Juice comes from lithium-phosphate batteries. The pack weighs about 100 kilograms and is mounted under the floor to keep the center of gravity low. Westfield is shooting for 55 mile range and a recharge time of two hours, but it didn’t provide battery specs. If you want to boost range or change the weight distribution, Westfield says you can mount batteries up front. That could provide an additional competitive edge by allowing for optimal setup for different circuits on the EV Cup calendar. Using the batteries for weight jacking is pretty clever.
The iRACER will be competing in the EV Cup, which is the world’s first ‘green’ auto racing series centered around zero emission (at the tailpipe, of course) electric cars. Organizers hope to provide a platform for sustainable motorsports. In addition to the iRACER, look for cars from the likes of Think, Ginetta, Lightning Motor Co. and Green GT.
“Westfield’s iRACER is another example of the excitement behind performance electric vehicles, this time, open top and very lightweight,” said Sylvain Filippi, managing director of EV Cup. “We look forward to working with Westfield and witnessing the success of their iRACER.”
source: wired
