Audi will compete in the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 16-17 June 2012 with a total of four LMP1 sports cars. Two of the four cars in action will be equipped with hybrid drive for the first time. Audi Sport Team Joest will also follow... Read more →

TS030 HYBRID. Click to enlarge. Toyota Racing will participate in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the TS030 HYBRID—the successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars which participated at Le Mans with podium success during the 1990s, with TS an acronym for Toyota Sport. Toyota is the first manufacturer to... Read more →

Quimera all-electric GT prototype. Click to enlarge. Strategic sustainability project specialists Quimera, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) are collaborating to develop an international Electric Vehicle motorsport series. Beginning this year, the partners will take steps to prepare investors,... Read more →

The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV Click to enlarge. Drayson Racing Technologies and Lola Group unveiled the anticipated electric-powered Le Mans prototype racing car, the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV, at the 2012 Low Carbon Racing Conference at the NEC. (Earlier post.) The car showcases technologies such as inductive charging, moveable aerodynamics, structural composite batteries and... Read more →

The DeltaWing. Click to enlarge. Michelin will be the first major technical partner to support the Project 56 DeltaWing prototype car in the 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Michelin has developed a tire solution that pushes the performance envelope and matches the innovative DeltaWing strategy to... Read more →

Nissan LEAF NISMO RC Click to enlarge. Nissan will unveil the Nissan LEAF NISMO RC (Racing Competition) battery-electric racer at the 2011 New York International Auto Show on 20 April. Nissan says it is looking at the racing world as a way to draw attention to the potential of electric... Read more →

by Jack Rosebro 2009 Honda Formula One chassis configuration, showing KERS component location. Click to enlarge. During the EVS 25 electric vehicle expo in Shanghai earlier this months, Honda engineers presented a glimpse into the development of an advanced high-performance electric motor that Honda had designed as part of a... Read more →

On the heels of the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series has released a new engine strategy that reflects the downsizing trend in the larger commercial market. The new engine platform, which will debut in 2012, will allow manufacturers to produce engines with a maximum of six cylinders... Read more →

Phantom diagram of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid. Click to enlarge. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG will introduce the 911 GT3 R hybrid for production-based GT racing at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. The hybrid is equipped with a flywheel energy recovery system (KERS) developed by Williams... Read more →

CAD rendering of the MLC flywheel. Source: WHP. Click to enlarge. Williams F1 and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) formally signed an agreement to inaugurate the Williams Technology Center (WTC). QSTP is a world-class incubator for the research, development and commercialization of new technologies that has attracted significant... Read more →

Torotrak flywheel KERS unit. Click to enlarge. At the SAE Commercial Vehicle Congress on October 6-7, full-toroidal traction drive specialist, Torotrak, will present a paper advocating a more cost effective approach using flywheel hybrid technology based on the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) developed for F1 racing. (Earlier post.) As... Read more →

Italian motorsport electronics specialist Magneti Marelli and UK high-speed flywheel specialist Flybrid Systems are collaborating to develop a new energy storage solution for Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS). The new product is targeted to be a high-power electrical storage system for hybrid racing cars capable of deep depths of discharge... Read more →

The new BMW Sauber F1.09 (left) and older F1.08 (right). The F1.09 nose is higher and much wider than before, and the three-element front wing spans the full width of the car. Click to enlarge. The BMW Sauber F1 Team unveiled the new BMW Sauber F1.09 with its electric KERS... Read more →

In a letter to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), FIA president Max Mosley said that he believes mechanical Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) are preferable to the battery systems currently being devised by several teams, and that battery-based systems should be banned. Beginning this year, Formula One teams can... Read more →

The KERS flywheel energy storage device can store up to 750 kilojoules of energy. Click to enlarge. Bosch Motorsport is developing a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) for use in motor racing. The modular KERS kit covers racing requirements from Formula 1 to series such as the DTM or 24-hour... Read more →

Freescale Semiconductor and McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) are collaborating to develop next-generation kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) technology for F1 racing from 2010 onward. Freescale’s and MES’ KERS technology collaboration addresses the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA, the governing body of world motorsport) commitment to reduce development costs, enhance competition,... Read more →

The 908 HY hybrid system has three core elements: (1) 60 kW motor-generator; (2) Li-ion battery pack; (3) power converter. Click to enlarge. Peugeot Sport used the final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone to unveil a hybrid 908 HDi FAP equipped with a kinetic energy recovery... Read more →

The Zytek hybrid. Click to enlarge. Corsa Motorsports and UK-based Zytek Group have formed a strategic alliance to produce the first Le Mans Prototype car fitted with a hybrid powertrain. Corsa will compete as a works team in the LMP1 class of the American Le Mans Series. The car will... Read more →

The Li-ion-based PHEV Apollo racer. Click to enlarge. Following the performance of their plug-in hybrid electric race car concept at the Nürburgring 24 hour race (ADAC Zurich 24h-Rennen) in May (earlier post), Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC) and Hybrid Racing AG have entered into an agreement to market specialized lithium-ion batteries... Read more →

The BMW Sauber F1 Team is developing an electric KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) brake energy regeneration and storage system for use in its F1.09 next year. Starting with the next season, Formula One regulations allow for the use of hybrid technology to increase the output and efficiency of the... Read more →

Xtrac CVT variator for F1. Click to enlarge. Transmission technology specialist Xtrac says the flywheel kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) currently being developed for Formula One (earlier post) could be applied to road vehicles in a number of ways. Xtrac’s role in designing, developing and integrating the mechanical KERS system... Read more →

Flybrid Systems has demonstrated that its high-speed spinning flywheel system can survive a crash test of the severity used for Formula One frontal impact testing. The Flybrid kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) incorporates Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) technology sourced from the partnership of Torotrak Plc and Xtrac. Xtrac is using... Read more →

The HV-R hybrid racer. Toyota’s Supra HV-R hybrid race car won the Tokachi 24-Hour Race last weekend, marking the first time that a hybrid race car has won such a competition. The car, which is based on the Supra GT used in Super GT races in Japan, uses a four-wheel... Read more →

The winning Whidbey dragster hit a top sped of 25 mph. Click to enlarge. The South Whidbey Team dragster set a new world record of 29.5 seconds for the quarter-kilometer distance at the third annual Solar Drag Race in Wenatchee, Washington this past weekend. Vehicles participating in the Solar Drag... Read more →

The E85 Aston Martin. An E85-fueled Aston Martin DBRS9 6.0-liter, V12 sportscar finished first in round five of the Avon Tyres British GT3 Championship to become the first bio-fueled car to win a major motorsport event in the UK. It was the first win of the season for the E85... Read more →

Torotrak and Xtrac variator in the KERS system. Click to enlarge. Toroidal traction drive specialist Torotrak plc (earlier post) and vehicle transmission design and manufacturing company Xtrac Ltd have entered into a licence agreement that will enable Xtrac to develop highly efficient and compact continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) for use... Read more →

When the 2007 IndyCar Series season starts up with the Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Saturday, the new Honda engines in the race cars will be running on 100% ethanol for the first time. All 17 races on the 2007 schedule, including the Indianapolis 500, will be run on... Read more →

Biodiesel Jetta. A Volkswagen Jetta became the first professional biodiesel racecar today. Jim Osborn’s Chili Pepper Racing team is running the VW on a B50 biodiesel blend in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) SPEED Touring Car race at Sebring International Raceway. The SPEED World Challenge is a production-based... Read more →

The motorsport industry is uniquely positioned to help develop and transfer advanced energy efficiency concepts into normal road going cars, argued Peter Digby, chairman of the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) and managing director of Xtrac, at an inaugural Energy Efficient Motorsport Conference held today, prior to the American Le Mans... Read more →

The Oaktec Honda Insight E85 Rally Car. Paul Andrews and Bill Meeson, partners in the UK’s Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS)-supported Oaktec Honda Insight E85 hybrid rally car project, met with the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) Alternative Energies Commission in Paris last week to discuss their car’s energy savings, the... Read more →

Formula 1’s carmakers and the FIA (the organization that governs world Formula One racing) have come to an agreement on a new framework that will govern the sport until 2012. FIA president Max Mosley and Burkhard Göschel, chairman of the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association, also reaffirmed F1’s commitment to developing... Read more →