His car was sent spinning skyward. Two tires, an engine and a cloud of other components found their way through the safety fence, injuring 28 spectators who were sitting trackside. When all was still, Kyle Larson’s blue and white #32 Chevrolet Camaro was nearly ripped in half. This incident, which took place in the Nationwide race the day before the Daytona 500, plus NASCAR’s seemingly knee-jerk actions to try and remove user-submitted footage of the crash from YouTube, painted for many the picture of a sport woefully ignorant of the times.

The truth, however, is rather different. The V8-powered machines that circle endlessly, fruitlessly on-track are built with a flagrant disregard for, and indeed a stubborn reluctance toward, modern technology. However, the organizing body that governs those cars and will host nearly 40 events spread over 10 months this year is anything but oblivious. In many ways NASCAR is the most technologically progressive motorsport body on the planet.

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The racing line: Exploring NASCAR’s technological dichotomy

The 24 hour race at Le Mans held every year is among the most punishing automotive tests on the planet: race-bred machines running top-speed (or close) for a full day. Recently, gasoline-powered cars have had their dominance usurped by diesels, who themselves are now losing to hybrids. The next step? It could be EVs. The GreenGT H2 will take the grid of next year’s 24 hour race as an experimental entry, driving the full race distance pushing only water vapor out its tailpipe. Hydrogen is stored in the two large tanks running down the sides, while the massive fuel cell stack itself is situated behind the driver. Power output is somewhere north of 500 horsepower, which is quite healthy for a car that the company hopes will be down under 1000Kg (2,200 pounds) by the time it hits the track in anger. Enough to win Le Mans? Almost certainly not, but it’ll be fun to watch it try.

Steve Dent contributed to this report.

Filed under: Transportation

GreenGT H2 eyes-on: the first fuel cell-powered racer to tackle Le Mans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we might not have enjoyed the full story arc just yet, we came within an electric whisker of seeing the electric Roadster‘s around the world trip derailed completely. The team at Tesla service in Munchen, however, obviously love a fairytale ending — which is why they pledged to fix-up the car in the fastest time possible. Just four days after that show-stopping accident, de Mestre is back in the game, and heading south to Barcelona. The journey won’t end there though, as to make up some lost miles on the French Citroen team, he’ll travel back up to Strasbourg, and in turn roll over the virtual 25,000 km finish line. Assuming no other problems along the way, we’ll be mentally cheering the him along.

Filed under: Misc

Around the world Tesla Roadster tour back on track after swift repair job originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Human antagonists can bring far more stress to a journey than a ticking clock. Phileas Fogg learned that, and now Tesla Roadster owner Rafael de Mestre is discovering it too. He wants to be the first to drive a standard EV (i.e. not solar- or hydrogen-powered vehicle) around the world, and just like Jules Verne’s hero he intends to do it in 80 days — but he’s not alone. Two Frenchmen in a little Citroen C-Zero (a sibling of the Mitsubishi i) have the same ambition, and although they’ve budgeted a comfortable eight months for their trip, they already have a three-month head start over de Mestre. As things stand, the Roadster is on a ship bound for China, while the Citroen duo are trundling up through Malaysia. Fortunately, de Mestra’s figured out another bit of racing wisdom: the importance of demoralizing your enemies with YouTube clips like the one after the break.

Continue reading Tesla Roadster driver now halfway around the world, catching up with Citroen team (video)

Tesla Roadster driver now halfway around the world, catching up with Citroen team (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even amongst siblings, Renault’s shown it’s game for a little competition. With a 994 mile trip completed earlier this month on a test circuit, the company’s Zoe EV broke a record for the longest distance an electric car has covered in a 24 hour period, according to France Mobilite Electrique (translation via TreeHugger). Think the French automaker’s vehicle pulled off the feat on a single charge? Try nine half-hour rapid-charge juice-ups that each provide a roughly 130 mile range in a controlled test-circuit environment. The EV is rolling out in Europe this fall for those who don’t mind a little stop-and-go.

Renault Zoe EV motors nearly 1,000 miles in 24 hours, charges nine times originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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