The Future of (EV) Track Days

[bsclywilly]

Just want to put this out there so in 10 years y'all can say I was ahead of the times back in 2022.

First time EV owner and first time at the track with my Taycan 4CT.

1. DC fast chargers will start popping up at tracks, right? Well, I bet mobile chargers will become ubiquitous first with EV focused track days and manufacturers renting this service. Will add convenience and guarantee of chargers available.​

2. For the more well off, I bet personal charging stations and battery banks will become available. Scaled down versions of (1).​

3. EV sports and track specific cars are going to start minimizing battery capacity for the sake of faster lap times, astronomically high power-weight ratios. Cut battery sizes in half or more, enough for just one session. Screw range anxiety, I just wanna go fast! Only works with (1) or (2). Petrol heads will be converted (maybe that should be a point on it's own).​

4. Track day schedules will be modified to stagger EV groups so we're not all going to the charger at the same time.​

5. Someone is going to ruin it all for the rest of us when they crash and burn. But hopefully some safety or fire suppression technology will get here first.​

​

What else can you think of?

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[daveo4EV]

Buttonwillow has superchargers & CCS being installed I believe
Laguna Seca has a permit for Tesla Supercharger's pending

once the Supercharger network allows CCS vehicle's - I think more and more tracks will install/allow EV's for purposes of tracking

 

[tbinmd]

We can hope for solid state batteries and a coupe. Taycan is fun for a quick track outing but it's just too big and heavy to run in upper groups for any length of time. I'll take a light slow car I can throw into a corner, over something with lots of power but heavy.

Yes, the GT3 is a light slow car, I can throw into a corner

 

[bsclywilly]

Buttonwillow has superchargers & CCS being installed I believe
Laguna Seca has a permit for Tesla Supercharger's pending

once the Supercharger network allows CCS vehicle's - I think more and more tracks will install/allow EV's for purposes of tracking

Cool to see Laguna Seca has proposed 8 stall 250kw superchargers going in. The charging infra must grow with demand but it seems like mobile charging would be a better investment to deal with varying demand when EV groups or race series grow in popularity.

It’ll also be interesting how charging plays into the cooling demands of EVs if cars are coming off the track hot and taking another 20-30 min to recharge for the next session.

 

[daveo4EV]

270 kW is less heat that the 320 to 420 kW consumption demands of full throttle - also we're dealing with temps far far less than an ICE car…

132F is max temp allowed for Taycan - and once down to 90F battery is actually "cool" - when I went to laguna - battery temp actually dropped while fast charging in my experience

with fast charging at the track - and only 270 kW max charge rate - I'm confident the car can be turned around in 30-40 min with no ill effects…

but we will see.

 

[Edward]

I'm sure the fast DC chargers at the tracks will find a way to price gouge, just like they do with 101 octane fuel. Formula E's Gen3 cars will be able to charge at 600kW, so ABB must have cooked up some kind of mobile charging solution that's powerful enough to charge all those race cars and portable enough to take between street circuits. I'm hoping that tech will transfer to permanent race tracks. It would open up Formula E Gen3 to racing on real race tracks and perhaps even open up an EV sports car / GT class in IMSA. One can dream ...

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