West Virginia Universitys Flying WV, a high-performance, all-electric racing car, is gearing up for a Fourth of July race at the Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Speedway. Or you could say charging up, since the car runs completely on electricity provided by 28 lead-acid, 12-volt batteries.
The race is part of the North American Auto Racing Inc.s Formula Lightning Series, a national competition that helps increase public awareness of electric vehicles. Numerous college and university student teams across the country compete in the series every year. Participating teams are given the opportunity to work through a practical engineering challenge while advancing the technology of electric vehicles.
“The Formula Lightning project gives students a real-life design situation and teaches them teamwork, leadership and problem-solving,”said Roy Nutter, a computer science and electrical engineering professor who serves as the teams adviser.
The students in WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources design, construct, test and prepare the open-wheeled, high-performance race car for competition, Nutter said.
The only part the students cant do is the actual driving, which is handled by Bob Lutz, a professional competition driver who also happens to be a mechanical engineer for Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. Lutz is new to the WVU team, although he has raced for more than 10 years in the Formula Ford series of the Sports Car Club of America.
As in the Indianapolis 500, Formula Lightning pit stops take just mere seconds, but instead of a fuel pump and tire change, the students have to replace 1,500 pounds of batteries. Another major difference is in the sound. There is a gentle hum as opposed to the noise you encounter when revving to more than 18,000 revolutions per minute in a conventional Formula One engine.
With batteries onboard, the WVU car weighs 2,765 pounds, Nutter said. Various sponsors provide parts, he added.
The vehicles top speed is 143 mph, which the cars will reach this weekend, said Jerry Smith, Mansfield Motorsports Speedways general manager.
“This is a very fast track,”Smith said.”Its a half of a mile long with a 16-degree bank. If a team has a top speed, theyll reach it on this track.”
WVU s team members are: Matthew Bryant of Charleston; Kenneth Emery of Silver Spring, Md.; Aaron Graves of Sugar Grove; Daniel Hammonds of Charleston; Heather Johnson of Cumberland, Md.; Daniel McTavish of Kennett Square, Pa.; Nikolas Prassinos of Boyds, Md.; Anthony Rossetti of Bridgeport; and April Williams of Buffalo.
Other competing teams are Bowling Green, Brigham Young, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Notre Dame, Wright State, Ohio State, Ohio University and University of Oklahoma.