We didn’t get to clarity on safety reqs with Lemons folks which was essential to have time for a real cage, so focused on some other projects over the summer and the M3P will keep going to track days for R&D.
1. Oli’s 968
2. Max’s 135
3. Shaun’s 914
The 914 is an interesting one. The more time we spend working on our 914, the more ideas we have. And a few other folks have demonstrated the potential for EV conversions. Here’s a fully documented one.
It’s a possible candidate for a racecar with battery swap. Not clear there is a path to win it all, but potentially be very competitive in class C, which cant really happen with charging, given only one track has a charger close enough and then time of year means high temps, which just push you into the worst range and charge times.
914 conversion is still very fun to drive! Here’s Richard aka Moggy on the 914 EV conversion vs rally days in the same original car. And conversion to EV very likely removes some fiddly sources of potential failure in an enduro car, like the shifter linkage – see below.
The issue remains cost – you’d likely need 4 small packs. In the 914, they’d be split say 3 modules in the front and 3 in the rear, so 2 packs per stint. Lets assume battery box with LG chem modules, you can probably get close to 100lbs each. So this means each stop is a front and rear swap at 100lbs each, which in Lemons format means 5 people – 1 on fire extinguisher (really meant for fuel fires, but lets assume it persists as requirement) and then the 2 people each to remove and replace the 2 100 lbs units.
There is probably a world in which the front slides out between the frame rails, so could be rolled. unclear if the same might be done for the rear – best case is probably side load since the drivetrain is blocking rear access.
135 and 968 are going through more regular maintenance. They’re not candidates for Lemons racing – too nice. But still lots of learnings.
Outrun Carbon 