Electrifying NASCAR (sort of)

[Glenn]

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Company will become the first manufacturer in NASCAR history to supply an all-electric car as the pace car.

The new Focus Electric will lead the field at the April 28 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond.

"Ford research shows the majority of Americans would consider buying an electrified vehicle but do not yet understand the different technologies," Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas division, said Monday.

"Highlighting the Focus Electric as a pace car is a fun way to educate consumers about the kinds of benefits our electrified vehicles deliver and show people our commitment to provide Ford customers the power of choice for leading fuel economy in the vehicle that best meets their needs."

The car will be unveiled to the public at the Virginia State Capitol on April 25.

Ford also was the first to use a hybrid vehicle as pace car when the Fusion Hybrid led the field at Homestead in 2008. Ford in January unveiled its Fusion as its 2013 car to be used in NASCAR competition.

Wonder how many laps that thing'll go at 190mph!

Glenn

 

[redLEAF]

I'm sure you know the pace cars never go as fast as the race cars but in any case I would be more worried about the FFE having enough of a charge to last the whole race; of course it's only a 3/4 mile oval but it will be run at highway speeds and of course depending on how many cautions, etc. they could be burning through electrons pretty quickly ... wonder if they'll have a backup just in case? Of course they've had hybrid Camry's as pace cars as well but this has to be the first BEV to pace a race.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

According to Jayski's the FFE could potentially have its work cut out on the 3/4 mile oval. Here's a case where 6.6kW L2 would come in handy. I couldn't find the pace car speed for that track but I think it would be one of the slower ones, maybe 35-45mph. This would not be a good experiment to try at Daytona or Talledega.

http://www.jayski.com/pages/tracks/richmond.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Most Caution Laps: 123 (2 times) most recently Sept 1974

 

[ksnogas2112]

Pace car speed is probably going to be 35mph. That's the same speed they come down pit road. Even with the more frequent cautions typically found in a short track it would probably do the 40 miles a Volt would do. Five pace laps to start the race then 3-4 laps for each caution. I think Richmond typically sees about 8 cautions per race so make the math simple and call it 1 mile per lap that's 37 miles. So it should be ok. Since they split the field between 2-3 pace cars during the parade laps there will likely be a spare in case the official pace car goes empty.

 

[redLEAF]

Can you imagine if they had a "Karma" moment (Consumer Reports was testing the Fisker Karma and it simply died and had to be flat bedded back to the mfg.) while on live TV? -- I truely hope that they don't but stranger things have happened (including the switch to EFI on the race cars and none starts).

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Can you imagine if they had a "Karma" moment (Consumer Reports was testing the Fisker Karma and it simply died and had to be flat bedded back to the mfg.) while on live TV? -- I truely hope that they don't but stranger things have happened (including the switch to EFI on the race cars and none starts).

+1

Let's all hope for the sake of EV perception this goes smoothly. I'd feel better if it were a Leaf out there. I'd even be willing to drive mine if it weren't for having to peel off all those decals afterwards :lol:

 

[TomT]

Nissan isn't a major sponsor, Ford is... Then again, it is Nascar, the non-thinking person's sport... :lol:

I'd feel better if it were a Leaf out there.

 

[kovalb]

In related news I just found out that the Nissan LEAF is the Official Safety Car of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships. "A specially-equipped Nissan LEAF will chase the Sports Car Wars field away from the standing start this coming Sunday, April 17th for the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix at Long Beach presented by StopTech."

http://www.world-challenge.com/news/story.php?story=2025

 

[DaveEV]

In related news I just found out that the Nissan LEAF is the Official Safety Car of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships. "A specially-equipped Nissan LEAF will chase the Sports Car Wars field away from the standing start this coming Sunday, April 17th for the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix at Long Beach presented by StopTech."

http://www.world-challenge.com/news/story.php?story=2025

Nice - I can't help but think they should have tossed on an aftermarket wheel/tire setup to show it off at a motors sports event, though.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-electric-focus-ready-for-richmond/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the Focus Electric's 84 mph claimed top speed is well above the typical 55 mph pace lap speed

Presumably that is inaccurate... 10mph slower than Leaf?

Love the lone comment posted by "Laces". The only explanation I can think of is that when you don't have any accomplishments of your own seeing others fail is your only joy in life.

 

[redLEAF]

To see actual FFE's decked out, etc. in NASCAR paint (stickers) scheme ... would have liked to heard what they actually sound like but they've added background music

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiO08cdMo3o[/youtube]

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

The FFE completed its tasks last night without incident. There were five cautions, near as I can tell about 32 laps run under caution, plus there was a couple extra laps at the beginning of the race because of a problem with some lights on the track. They said the pace car speed was 45mph.

There was brief mention of the FFE during the coverage, something from the commentators about how they had driven the car and were impressed by it, and Mike Helton had driven it too and and had good things to say, but then the topic abruptly shifted and I didn't see any further mention of it. Maybe if there had been a rain delay there would have been some in-depth coverage.

At least nothing went wrong. You know if it had that would have made the news.

 

[redLEAF]

+1, pretty uneventful which was actually a good thing ... no mention of 'range anxiety', etc., etc. and the car looked good under the lights, seemed to have a bit more flashing lights on it but that's probably with it being held at night and making them more noticeable than a daytime race. Wonder if an EV version of the Honda Fit (or for that matter even a Chevy Volt due to being an engine supplier) will pace an Indy Car race in the future?

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Something else mentioned during the coverage last night was their new web site http://www.nascar.com/green

Certainly a lot of greenwashing propaganda there and the easy thing to write it off as that (Hey look at us we recycled plastic bottles at the track). Still you have to wonder if there isn't some concern in the boardroom about the sport being marginalized if public sentiment shifts. They've tried to broaden the appeal for the sport beyond the stereotypical demographic and certainly want to protect their empire. Could we see some sort of EV class sprint event added to weekend lineup in the future? On a short track like Richmond could you get 100 laps out of an EV race car?

 

[KeiJidosha]

+1, pretty uneventful which was actually a good thing ...

I give Ford credit for putting the FFE right out there. Brave to risk an issue in front of 40 million gear heads. Also the cross country "Electric Car Challenge" by the Men’s Health journalists. No safety net there either if the FFE had thrown a spasm in the middle of Twitterville. Looks like confidence to me.