Published July 13, 2012
By Philippe Crowe
This month KleenSpeed Technologies set a new EV lap record at the 4th annual REFUEL 2012 Clean Power Motorsports Event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The July 1 run marked the fourth consecutive year Kleenspeed set a new class record, and its 1:32.046 time smashed its previous best while also beating the likes of experimental Teslas, Ikuo Hanawa in his Pike's Peak-dominating Summit HER-02, and a Brammo Empulse TTXGP bike among others.
According to FastestLaps.com, KleenSpeed's time would also have handily beaten the best lap times set by production gasoline cars including the 1:33:92 lap record set in 2008 by a 600-horsepower Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR, not to mention a 1:34:43 lap set in 2011 by a 512-horsepower Corvette ZO6 Z07 package, just to name the top two.
The KleenSpeed EV-X11 electric race car is aided by aerodynamic down force, and powered by a UQM PowerPhase Select 145 electric motor and controller system.
KleenSpeed EV-X11 electric race car track testing in late 2011.
“The KleenSpeed team continues to demonstrate the performance of electric vehicles and advantages of our PowerPhase electric drive systems, providing exceptional power and efficiency with minimal weight,” said Eric Ridenour, UQM Technologies’ president and chief executive officer. “We congratulate the team on their continued success on the track, as well as the awareness they are bringing to electric vehicle technologies.”
KleenSpeed's EV-X11 electric race car was driven by Kevin Mitz of Rennwerks Motorsports in the Open Prototype class during the REFUEL 2012 event. The car beat its previous record by more than six seconds.
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This Autoweek TV spot gives an overview of what KleenSpeed hopes to accomplish with publicity garnered by its racer.
In addition to setting a new lap time record, the KleenSpeed EV-X11 took first place in the Open Prototype class, beating a Tesla Model S Prototype and other vehicles.
“The performance of the KleenSpeed EV-X11 electric race car validates the disruptive technology of the KleenSpeed genESSsys™ Race energy storage systems,” said Tim Collins, president of KleenSpeed Technologies. “The UQM PowerPhase electric motor and controller are a great match for our system, making efficient use of the available power and requiring minimal space in the vehicle.”
