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E-Dragsters Go for Gas-Powered Records
By Larry Hendrick | August 1, 2007
Yes, I’m a caraholic. I have liked cars since early childhood, and even did a little racing in my younger days, winning at least one trophy at the drag strip. I am also a big fan of smoking tires, nitrous fumes, and whining blowers, but this story fascinates me, too.
An electric motor powered drag bike that is very fast. This is not your daddies or my drag bike, snorting power and making noise. It quietly lays down rubber and zips through the quarter mile in 8.21 seconds at 155 mph, all with just the electric motor whine.
My Way News - E-Dragsters Go for Gas-Powered Records
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Straddling a 619-pound motorcycle, Scotty Pollacheck tucks in his knees and lowers his head as he waits for the green light. When he revs the engine, there’s no roar. The bike moves so fast that within seconds all that’s visible is a faint red taillight melting in the distance.Pollacheck crosses the quarter-mile marker doing 156 mph; he’s traveled 1,320 feet in 8.22 seconds, faster than any of the gas-powered cars, trucks or motorcycles that have raced in the drag sprints on this weekend at Portland International Raceway.
It’s particularly impressive given Pollacheck is riding a vehicle that uses no gasoline and is powered entirely by lithium-ion batteries.
It’s the KillaCycle …
I don’t know that this technology will take over the drag strips, any time soon, but I love the cutting edge approach to moving an object really, really fast over a short distance. The things they learn from this will eventually seep into the real world and that is exciting.
Topics: Technology |