Electric Sportscar Ice Racing (VIDEO)

March 28th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

From what I’ve noticed, there’s a pretty passionate electric car racing community out there. I often see stories on the subject over on Gas2. Normally, I pass on covering these, as I don’t see them as all that relevant to tackling global warming and our oil addiction. However, this one caught my attention and seemed ‘cool’ enough to warrant a repost.

ERA’s sporty electric RaceAbout coupe has apparently proven itself in many arenas. However, as you may know, one of the steepest challenges for EVs is cold weather. To prove that it could handle the cold, the ERA RaceAbout was recently driven by Janne Laitinen to a top speed of over 155 mph… on ice! “Which would have been a Guinness World Record … if only such a record existed,” Jo Borras of Gas2 notes.

Here’s a video and a bunch of photos via Nokian Tires.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: electric sports cars, electric sportscars, sports cars, sportscars

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

bdoss22

“Normally, I pass on covering these, as I don’t see them as all that relevant to tackling global warming and our oil addiction.”

NASCAR is a huge promoter of fossil fuels and the car company’s that make powerful, yet inefficient transportation options. Don’t underestimate electric car racing as an opportunity to advance the cause through PR and marketing potential. Racing will ‘toughen-up’ the image of the electric vehicle and its following.

Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/18m7m)
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Good point.
ccmmyykk

“Normally, I pass on covering these, as I don’t see them as all that relevant to tackling global warming and our oil addiction.”

What’s not relevant, racing itself or all-electric vehicles? These kinds of things are a test bed for technologies that eventually will trickle down into the Joe Consumer electric cars. I think that’s entirely relevant.
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Good point.