SRZero partners with Drayson Racing
Drayson Racing and Vantage Power team up to tackle the RAC Future Car Challenge and develop ultra high performance electric cars
RGE joins forces with Drayson Racing
Form Technical Partnership to develop electric drivetrains with high performance and endurance
4 November 2011; London, UK: Drayson Racing Technologies LLP, the leading green racing R&D business, has teamed up with Vantage Power Ltd, the team behind the world record breaking SRZero electric car that last year drove the 26,000km Pan-American Highway in 70 days as part of the Racing Green Endurance project. Together, they will tackle the 60 mile RAC Future Car Challenge Race from Brighton to London on November 5th 2011, and look forward to a series of exciting events in the future.
Vantage Power Ltd and Drayson Racing Technologies LLP also announced today the formation of an official technical partnership which aims to combine Vantage Power’s experience in extreme endurance runs with Drayson Racing’s knowhow in high performance motorsport, to develop drivetrains for electric vehicles with both high performance and long range.
The SRZero will be driven in the RAC Future Car Challenge by the co-founder of Drayson Racing, former Science Minister and Le Mans racing driver Lord Paul Drayson, and the Head of Imperial College’s Energy Futures Laboratory Prof Nigel Brandon.
Quotes:
Paul Drayson said: “For electric cars to really take off we need to show that they can offer the performance and range that consumers expect from modern cars. Although 60 miles is a lot less than the 26,000 km that the Vantage Power team achieved last year – and the 70 mph speed limit a bit less than the 220 mph plus we target when racing, it will be fun driving the car and competing in this exciting event. Participating in the RAC Future Car Challenge is a great way to showcase the experience and knowhow that Drayson Racing and Vantage Power bring in developing electric cars that offer both high performance and long range.”
Alexander Schey, Managing Director of Vantage Power, said: “After completing the Pan-American challenge with the SRZero, Vantage Power is looking forward to the collaboration with Drayson Racing, and building upon its extensive experience by applying it to the vanguard of the high performance electric vehicle industry. The RAC Future Car Challenge, though different to the style of driving both Vantage Power and Drayson racing are used to, will demonstrate our desire to participate in a range of events as well as our motivation to win them!”
~Ends~
Notes for Editors
About the SRZero
The SRZero was designed to be the world’s longest range electric vehicle, and over the summer of 2010 succeeded in becoming the first EV to drive the 26,000km Pan-American Highway from Alaska in the far north, to Ushuaia in the far south; the world’s southernmost city. Along the way, the project generated a huge global following that culminated in an 8 part documentary series broadcast by the BBC in over 220 countries. Following the trip, Drayson Racing and Vantage Power have worked together to prepare the car for the Brighton to London RAC Future Car Challenge, entering the car in the sports-car class of the event. For more information, please visit: www.racinggreenendurance.com or follow us on Twitter: @RGEndurance
About Vantage Power:
Vantage Power is a start-up company formed by three Racing Green Endurance team members who, over the past four years, have accumulated substantial know how in the conceptualisation and implementation of high performance electric drivetrains. Working with components from many different suppliers, the company has acquired a broad range of experience and contacts in the electric vehicle industry. Vantage Power has focussed specifically on developing robust control, drive and energy storage solutions, and will apply these technologies to the automotive, aerospace, and marine industries. For more information, please visit: www.vantage-power.com
Media contact: Alexander Schey
alex@vantage-power.com
+44 (0)7733 223143
About Drayson Racing Technologies:
Drayson Racing Technologies LLP is a research & development business based in the heart of the UK’s world-leading motorsport industry at Kidlington, near Oxford. Paul Drayson, a former biotechnology entrepreneur and the UK Minister for Science and Innovation in the previous government, formed Drayson Racing Technologies LLP in 2007 with his wife, Elspeth, to act as a racing laboratory to pioneer the development of green technologies in the challenging environment of motor racing. Since then Drayson Racing has achieved a number of notable firsts racing second-generation biofuels and has latterly focused on the emerging field of electric racing and is currently developing an all-electric prototype race car, the 850hp Lola-Drayson B12/69EV in collaboration with Lola Cars International Ltd.
For more information please visit: www.draysonracingtechnologies.com or follow us on Twitter: @lorddrayson and @DraysonRacing
Media contact: Lady Elspeth Drayson
media@draysonracingtechnologies.com
+ 44 (0)7787 128483
The Racing Green Endurance Team with the SRzero were exposed to a range
of extreme conditions during the epic voyage and test drive in 2010 ,
the Pan American Highway , which challenged the limits of the SRzero ,
the supporting infra structure ( sometimes negligible ) for servicing
and recharging the SRzero and its driver team , prompting an accumulation
of pertinent information , which could be vital for all the latest Electric Vehicle Projects which have popped up all over the world in an endeavour to reduce our carbon footprint and promote environmentally friendly vehicles .
Is there an association of Electric Vehicle Manufacturers which could
consolidate all this information for the purpose of fast tracking the developments to overcome the repetition of mistakes and to bear pressure
on government policies which could encourage the next stages of this
universal necessity ?