Winning Approach: Selection Criteria for Competitive Battery Powered Racing Vehicles

This paper presents a systematic approach for optimal selection of race discipline and race format to develop a battery powered racing vehicle that is competitive with internal combustion vehicles. The main limitation for battery powered vehicles is the mass of the battery that grows directly with race duration, and the break-even point is currently around 10 minutes. However, battery powered vehicles have other advantages such as indifference to altitude, superior traction control, and moldability of the drivetrain for aerodynamic advantage or for optimal weight distribution, making them highly competitive in certain disciplines such as land speed racing and hill climb.