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Ultra4 EV class rules

Russell

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Joined
May 21, 2020
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Rocky View County, AB
Is there any documentation on the EV class anywhere? First I've heard of it. Can you run a gas electric hybrid, or is it strictly full EV?
 
I’m more curious if this class was planned all along or if this was a last minute addition because someone wanted to run one and they decided to add a class for it. I don’t recall seeing any mention of it anywhere in the rule book when I was looking to maybe compete in legends class a few ml this ago.
 
Thoughts on safety?

Lithium battery pack fires can't be put ut by convensional means iirc.
There's a whole new set of rules needing to be made for offroad ev racing
 
Was looking for the rules myself. Guessing they are either super-secret, or just a handshake deal (like the original KOH). Neat that they threw something together, and that it worked at all. Still wondering what course they even ran, and what "class" they would be in (if gas).
 
Thoughts on safety?

Lithium battery pack fires can't be put ut by convensional means iirc.
There's a whole new set of rules needing to be made for offroad ev racing

it isn't exactly easy to start a lithium fire, safety standards being the same is no big deal. fire supression long enough to get the driver out of the car, just like everybody else
 
Was looking for the rules myself. Guessing they are either super-secret, or just a handshake deal (like the original KOH). Neat that they threw something together, and that it worked at all. Still wondering what course they even ran, and what "class" they would be in (if gas).

they ran the first lap of the EMC course.

i'd love to have somebody do a full wrtieup and all kinds of inforation about it!
 
As soon as I saw that they were only running the first lap I realized who it was for. Dave is no dummy. He is looking to get Tesla/GM/Ford/Rivian out there with their new factory electric trucks and sponsorship $$$. You have an ex ultra 4 racer as one of the engineers on the Hummer EV, I would think it has already been a conversation at this point.
 
Considering that electric 4runner was made out of Bailey Coles old 4600 rig he started racing in, I'm sure Dave was aware of it being built. It was probably still a somewhat unplanned class, just something along the lines of "If you get it done and get it to hammers in time, we'll give you a place to race it" kind of thing if I had to guess. Very cool concept and I'm sure it will spurr more builds.

From what I heard when they talked to the driver/team, that one was a Nissan leaf motor and inverter bolted to the toyota trans, and everything downstream was still toyota as well. Then it sounded like the leaf battery packs were split into I believe 2 separate cells, and they could carry up to 4 cells. At the first pit it sounds like he was surprised on how he was doing distance wise per battery consumption. Anyways, cool stuff all around and it'll be interesting to see what else comes from it.
 
The only huge drawback on the EV is they sound so lame ripping down a track with no noise. Like the electric dirt bikes are like that. Sounds like a dremel tool :barf:.

I think they should have ran the whole course or attempted it. If you want to do a exposition, cool awesome but run the same thing everyone else did. Otherwise it's just a trophy in your 'special' single entry class.

A hybrid gas/electric drivetrain might be cool. I don't ever know what happened with wheel motors, they seems like best but still haven't really seen them ramped up for market yet.

Chevy has or will soon have a drop in EV setup don't they? Ala crate EV LS swap?
 
As soon as I saw that they were only running the first lap I realized who it was for. Dave is no dummy. He is looking to get Tesla/GM/Ford/Rivian out there with their new factory electric trucks and sponsorship $$$. You have an ex ultra 4 racer as one of the engineers on the Hummer EV, I would think it has already been a conversation at this point.

Mike Colville is a genius and even better dude! Was not so funny though when his team decided to burn off their extras fuel in the camping area of Hammer Town in 2015 (I believe). Thought a RV went up in flames.
 
Considering that electric 4runner was made out of Bailey Coles old 4600 rig he started racing in, I'm sure Dave was aware of it being built. It was probably still a somewhat unplanned class, just something along the lines of "If you get it done and get it to hammers in time, we'll give you a place to race it" kind of thing if I had to guess. Very cool concept and I'm sure it will spurr more builds.

From what I heard when they talked to the driver/team, that one was a Nissan leaf motor and inverter bolted to the toyota trans, and everything downstream was still toyota as well. Then it sounded like the leaf battery packs were split into I believe 2 separate cells, and they could carry up to 4 cells. At the first pit it sounds like he was surprised on how he was doing distance wise per battery consumption. Anyways, cool stuff all around and it'll be interesting to see what else comes from it.

do you listen to podcasts? The builder was on “the talent tank” the week before koh.
 
do you listen to podcasts? The builder was on “the talent tank” the week before koh.

huh, sounds like it would have been interesting to hear.

anything good come out of it? is he running it through the toyota drivetrain?

even if you put a limit on the motor size for they hybrid, not having to deal with/change batteries would mean you'd dominate every full E car there. 1kcc limit?
 
huh, sounds like it would have been interesting to hear.

anything good come out of it? is he running it through the toyota drivetrain?

even if you put a limit on the motor size for they hybrid, not having to deal with/change batteries would mean you'd dominate every full E car there. 1kcc limit?

Heart transplant only. They had zero test time on it. They went with the leaf because it was cheap, easy to source and comparable “hp” to the 22re. It could fit two standard capacity leaf batteries or one extended capacity battery. When they came through RP1, they had only used one standard battery, but chose to swap in the extended battery to complete the course. It also sounded as if they removed, disabled or chose not to use the front locker.
 
do you listen to podcasts? The builder was on “the talent tank” the week before koh.

I don't, but I'm actually curious to listen to that one to hear a little more. They gave him a few minute spot on the live feed before he took off from the start line and he talked about the build a bit. Pretty cool that he succeeded for a completely untested swap
 
I don't, but I'm actually curious to listen to that one to hear a little more. They gave him a few minute spot on the live feed before he took off from the start line and he talked about the build a bit. Pretty cool that he succeeded for a completely untested swap

If you listen to that one you will be hooked. Wyatt has some great guests on.
 
Heart transplant only. They had zero test time on it. They went with the leaf because it was cheap, easy to source and comparable “hp” to the 22re. It could fit two standard capacity leaf batteries or one extended capacity battery. When they came through RP1, they had only used one standard battery, but chose to swap in the extended battery to complete the course. It also sounded as if they removed, disabled or chose not to use the front locker.

I guess the batteries are pretty heavy. That had to add some "overload springs" on the lake bed:

PqR1CKch.jpg
 
I don't, but I'm actually curious to listen to that one to hear a little more. They gave him a few minute spot on the live feed before he took off from the start line and he talked about the build a bit. Pretty cool that he succeeded for a completely untested swap

They also did a couple of interviews at Wheelingwineandwhiskey where they go into their build
https://wheelingwineandwhiskey.com/episode-79-we-visit-with-willspec-garage-and-see-the-e-v-e/
https://wheelingwineandwhiskey.com/episode-85-crashing-willspec-garage-for-an-eve-update/
 
Heart transplant only. They had zero test time on it. They went with the leaf because it was cheap, easy to source and comparable “hp” to the 22re. It could fit two standard capacity leaf batteries or one extended capacity battery. When they came through RP1, they had only used one standard battery, but chose to swap in the extended battery to complete the course. It also sounded as if they removed, disabled or chose not to use the front locker.

Having the batteries sized/installed in the right way, could make "fuel" stops quicker than gas cars. If you could setup the batteries to discharge them in series, you could easily plug and play them to swap out quickly in the pits.
 
I’m more curious if this class was planned all along or if this was a last minute addition because someone wanted to run one and they decided to add a class for it. I don’t recall seeing any mention of it anywhere in the rule book when I was looking to maybe compete in legends class a few ml this ago.

I am positive it was a last minute addition. There is nothing in the rulebook about it, and the first I heard any mention of it was from Dave Cole during the KOH pre show. This wasn't really intended to be a real competition class this year, but just an announcement/exhibition to get builders interested for next year. The rig itself wasn't a very serious effort in my opinion.


As far as the future of the class, I think it will be interesting. I think the only thing that makes sense is for it to be an unlimited class since the idea is to advance the technology and perhaps get factory backing/support in the future. The only real restriction I can see being levied on the class would be electric power only (i.e. no hybrids or onboard generators). I imagine they will run shorter courses with minimal rocks for the first year or two, until there are enough competitors capable of finishing a ~150 mile course within a reasonable time.
 
As far as the future of the class, I think it will be interesting. I think the only thing that makes sense is for it to be an unlimited class since the idea is to advance the technology and perhaps get factory backing/support in the future. The only real restriction I can see being levied on the class would be electric power only (i.e. no hybrids or onboard generators). I imagine they will run shorter courses with minimal rocks for the first year or two, until there are enough competitors capable of finishing a ~150 mile course within a reasonable time.

So maybe for next year Thursday will be golf carts and power wheels? :stirthepot:
 
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