Wednesday 20 May 2009

Electric GreenGT design study fortells the future of LeMans










This year's 24 Hours of LeMans is sure to be a race for the ages, but what about next year? Or the year after that? If GreenGT gets its act together in time for the 2011 event, the Switzerland-based firm could be the first to the grid with an electric race car.

Penned by French designer Thomas Clavet, the GreenGT design study seeks to revolutionize the face of motorsport with an FIA-certified EV comprised of a carbon fiber chassis and a fiberglass body. In theory, a pair of 100 kW water-cooled electric motors are mated to a proprietary gearbox, sending a prodigious amount of grunt to a set of magnesium OZ wheels shod in race-spec slicks. How prodigious? According to the GreenGT, the closed-cockpit racer will churn out between 350 and 450 hp and a pavement punishing 1,475 lb-ft of torque up to 100 mph, then reduced to 590 lb-ft to aid high-speed traction. According to the company, the 1,895-pound would reach 60 mph in under four seconds and on to a top speed of 171 mph. Power is supposedly funneled to a duo of lithium-ion batteries through a set of solar panels, and in addition to bringing two GreenGTs to LeMans in 2011, the firm plans to produce 22 road-going models within the next three years. Ambitious? Check. Plausible?

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