Motorsport is sign of constant innovation, and one of the finest symbols of innovation in motorsport nowadays is the project called "Garage 56", an initiave of ACO to bring teams that want to show what can be brought to race cars and road cars in terms of innovation, such as energy efficience, and in the best field ever: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is where a dutch team wants to play, and their plans are ambitious.
Two and a half weeks after the Nissan ZEOD RC, the second Garage 56 entrant that competed in Le Mans, achieved more than 300 kph only with electric propulsion, a dutch team called InMotion wants to field in 2017 or 2018 a vehicle that enters in the Garage 56 concept. The team is composed by students of the Technical University of Eindhoven an the Fontys University of applied sciences.
The car is called IM01, and is now under development. Differently of the hybrid LMP1s we see today, that have a temporary all-wheel drive, the IM01 will feature an all-time all-wheel drive, due to the fact that each wheel of the car will be connected to an electric engine, and the car is powered by a battery and a range extender in form of a rotary engine. Because of the fact that the engine will run in a certain RPM range, it is expected that it will be 60% more efficient than standard engines, more than the double of the efficiency of the current LMP-H cars.
But efficiency won't be limited to the powertrain. The heat that is generated by all the engine activity is intended to be used improving aerodynamics, on the same way as the F1-banned blown diffuser, so there's almost no energy loss in the whole process.
The goals to achieve by the IM01 are clear at this moment: first, the car will run on Nordschleife in an attempt to beat the circuit's record time, done by Stefan Bellof - 6:11.1 minutes. After that, the goal is to compete and complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
If they succeed in their effort, it will the first car built by an universitary crew in Le Mans since 2008, when the guys from Japanese-based Tokai University fielded a Courage LC70-YGK LMP1, finishing 42nd after retiring on lap 185 with gearbox problems.
Hope these guys' effort pay off on track, and if you want to know the project and be a part of it, to get more information.
Photos: InMotion, Tech Racing Cars
Two and a half weeks after the Nissan ZEOD RC, the second Garage 56 entrant that competed in Le Mans, achieved more than 300 kph only with electric propulsion, a dutch team called InMotion wants to field in 2017 or 2018 a vehicle that enters in the Garage 56 concept. The team is composed by students of the Technical University of Eindhoven an the Fontys University of applied sciences.
The car is called IM01, and is now under development. Differently of the hybrid LMP1s we see today, that have a temporary all-wheel drive, the IM01 will feature an all-time all-wheel drive, due to the fact that each wheel of the car will be connected to an electric engine, and the car is powered by a battery and a range extender in form of a rotary engine. Because of the fact that the engine will run in a certain RPM range, it is expected that it will be 60% more efficient than standard engines, more than the double of the efficiency of the current LMP-H cars.
But efficiency won't be limited to the powertrain. The heat that is generated by all the engine activity is intended to be used improving aerodynamics, on the same way as the F1-banned blown diffuser, so there's almost no energy loss in the whole process.
The goals to achieve by the IM01 are clear at this moment: first, the car will run on Nordschleife in an attempt to beat the circuit's record time, done by Stefan Bellof - 6:11.1 minutes. After that, the goal is to compete and complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
If they succeed in their effort, it will the first car built by an universitary crew in Le Mans since 2008, when the guys from Japanese-based Tokai University fielded a Courage LC70-YGK LMP1, finishing 42nd after retiring on lap 185 with gearbox problems.
Hope these guys' effort pay off on track, and if you want to know the project and be a part of it, to get more information.
Photos: InMotion, Tech Racing Cars
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