Bill Nye Says NASCAR Should Lead Way To All-Electric Cars - Perhaps With Teslas

[Curt Renz]

Link To HuffPost Business Article

“And most significant from my point of view, everyone in the crowd, every race fan, would want an electric car! The market for electric cars would go crazy. Manufacturers could not produce them fast enough. We could convert our transportation system to all-electric in less time than it took to go from horse-drawn to horseless carriage, 20 years maybe."

“…even unmodified Teslas straight off the showroom floor…”

 

[Curt Renz]

Bill Nye Wants NASCAR To Lead Way To All-Electric Cars - Perhaps With Teslas


“And most significant from my point of view, everyone in the crowd, every race fan, would want an electric car! The market for electric cars would go crazy. Manufacturers could not produce them fast enough. We could convert our transportation system to all-electric in less time than it took to go from horse-drawn to horseless carriage, 20 years maybe."

“…even unmodified Teslas straight off the showroom floor…”

Link To The HuffPost Business Article

 

[dsm363]

They would power limit after a lap though.

 

[Bangor Bob]

Formula E already exists and unfortunately it is underwhelming in the current state. OTOH, the electrics are ruling almost all classes at Pike's Peak, so maybe it's a matter of having the right set of rules.

 

[Electric700]

They would power limit after a lap though.

Perhaps that can be resolved with a higher performance cooling system?

 

[gene]

Right on Bill Nye!!!

 

[CTemp222]

Bill bill bill bill!!!

 

[ecarfan]

I admire and respect Bill Nye, but he does not appear to know much about race cars. Unfortunately Teslas as of now aren't much of a thrill for racing since they overheat rapidly when driven to the max and then the software limits power to the motor.
Formula E race cars are amazing and are designed to handle the high motor temperatures when running hard but they can't do very many consecutive laps.
It will be more than a few years before there are EVs that can compete with NASCAR ICE cars.

 

[vdiv]

I'd love to see an EV endurance race. But NASCAR is not ready even for hybrids, they use dinosaur carburetor pushrod V8s for crying out loud!! (since you won't be able to hear me over the noise, and such)

 

[djplong]

Now now.... NASCAR switched to fuel injection four years ago. They're still pushrod V8s, but no carburetors!

 

[wdolson]

Not only would the Teslas overheat after a lap, electric cars still don't have the range to do a 500 mile race without stopping to recharge several times. It would make a really boring race if all the cars had to pull into the pits for 90 minutes to recharge every 100 miles (the range would go down quite a bit with continuous driving over 100 mph). It might advance the technology for quick chargers, but it would make cricket look fast paced.

 

[glhs272]

umm... battery swap? I bet it can be done faster than a fill-up with a well designed and practiced system... a race car that is, not a Tesla Model S, but a similar principal. They change tires several times during a race, why not batteries?

 

[wdolson]

umm... battery swap? I bet it can be done faster than a fill-up with a well designed and practiced system... a race car that is, not a Tesla Model S, but a similar principal. They change tires several times during a race, why not batteries?

Forgot about that. Good point.

I suppose they could overcome the overheating problems to at least some degree with a heavy duty cooling system in the frunk.

 

[glhs272]

I think if your starting off with a real electric race car, your not going to be bound by the specific issues or limitations of a Tesla Model S. I am thinking more of a race car like the one that won last years pikes peak hill climb (#2 was also an electric car). http://www.redbull.com/us/en/motors...719574/rhys-millen-wins-pikes-peak-2015-video

Lots of potential, just add capability for quick changing batteries and lets go racing.

 

[Sasmania]

I hate to be a Nye-sayer, and I'd love to see it but.....

NASCAR is loud as hell. Do they even have mufflers?? That earth shaking sound is something that a lot of people really get a charge out of. (oops, wrong word).

I just can't see the regular Nascar fan getting excited about silent cars. I think they would revolt. (oops, I did it again) It's just NOT a cultural fit. I could see it eventually happening, just not in 5 or 10 years. Maybe 30.

 

[InternetDude]

Isn't NASCAR more about sponsors (ads) than cars anyway? The cars don't excite me in the least.

 

[glhs272]

I hate to be a Nye-sayer, and I'd love to see it but.....
It's just NOT a cultural fit.

Yeah I agree. It's more of a cultural issue than a technical one. It seems formula one might be more accepting. Let's see how Formula E pans out.

 

[kennybobby]

Nye is a boring pencil-necked geek who obviously knows nothing about NASCAR, probably never even been to a race. To make statements about what they *should* do reflects on his pseudo-intellectual persona...yeah i'm a redneck and i like racin'

 

[brucet999]

Finally, a practical use for the battery swap station!

 

[rays427]

The sound is a big part of any car race. In Formula 1 the fans are complaining about the lack of sound since the cars started using hybrid technology.