Electric Champ Car Conversion

by Andrew
(Sunnyvale, CA)

I'm converting a ChampCar (Swift010) which weighs about 1000 lbs to run off electric.

I want to use the traction motor being sold by Mavin and thought of running it through a Prius inverter with Prius battery packs.

Does this sound like a reasonably do-able solution? If you had to power a Indy/CART car how would you do it?

I'm in the military so I'm budget-minded but think the 11" DC motor is too heavy. However, I'm looking to be able to sustain 160mph for at least half an hour on a charge.

Hi, Andrew -
Sustaining 160 mph for a half hour on a charge is 80 miles, unless I'm messing up the math. I don't think so, though. You want a (very light) car that will go 160 mph for 80 miles?

Okay, that might be doable. Theoretically. But not on a budget.

The batteries you're looking at, the Prius pack, is not meant to be deep-cycled. You'll kill them very quickly at that rate!

Sorry to bust your bubble, but back to the drawing board.

Regards,
Lynne