I am sure some of you already seen the video from a month ago where the Ferrari LaFerrari (cost $1.5 million) got beaten by Rimac Concept One (EV hypercar) in a drag race. But now, the Porsche 918 (cost $1 million), which is even faster than the LaFerrari to the 1/4 mile lined up with the Rimac for couple of drag races. Actual race video will be released soon by the people who organized the race. Which car do you want to place the bet on?? If Rimac won the race, it would be the first time in world history where an EV beat the fastest hyper car in the world to the 1/4 mile. In case you want to see the video again about the Ferrari vs Rimac. Jump straight to 3:55 if you want to see the race with even start. Notice that the P90DL version 1 was there as well. Porsche 918 and Rimac Concept One are in a drag strip with timing equipment ready. EV hypercar vs ICE hypercar Some background video if you are interested in. Actual race video isn't released yet.
I have never been interested in drag racing, but it is fun to watch Tesla's blow cars up. I might be biased?
the 1/4 mile time between Rimac and Porsche is very close. Hard to say. It will be a very interesting race for sure.
weather and a perfect launch play a big role in the 918, I've been with one at the track, took a while to get its best run....
I think the 918 is known for having good launches. For a hybrid hypercar, it has a large percentage of peak power coming from the electric side. Nearly half compared tot the ICE. Also, it's AWD contrary to nemeses McLaren P1 and Ferrrari LaFerrari. The latter tends to lose against the 918 and P1 in drag races. So Rimac will have a tougher cooky to crack in the 918. Being on a drag strip may favor the 918 which for a large part is dependent on ICE power to be put to the tarmac. Then, it doesn't have a whole lot of ICE power, and it's not a particularly light car. Compared to the Rimac though, it's light. Rimac basically weighs the same as a top level Model S. Similar battery capacity. They spent years on the cooling tech. I'd be interested how long it could hold on to 250kph, if not until it runs out of juice. Or, from a long steady 220kph, how much power is available, how past does it pull to 250kph? Of course, racing the Tesla SP100DL.
Exactly, and that's how it generates a nearly flat torque curve of over 500ft lbs, pretty much the whole way. I think it will easily beat a Rimac at the track, because chances are the Rimac guy will fully charge to a warm battery, which is exactly what you shouldn't do before hitting "the track".
Rimac website say that it is 1850 kg in weight. Heavier than 918, but lighter than Tesla for sure. Also, according to the specs on the website, the 0-200 km/h, and 0-300 km/h performance is a lot faster than the holy trinity (LaFerrari, P1, 918). If those specs are real, Rimac can be easily on par with the new Bugatti Chiron.
Porsche 918 also runs out of battery in a long track, such as the Nurburgring in Germany. If you see Youtube video of their world record runs, the car's battery is dead like 80% into the run. The remaining 20% of the lap is just a very very heavy 600 hp 918. That's how much hp the ICE engine makes. This is also one of the major reasons why the much cheaper Lambo Aventador SV can get so close to the lap time of the 918 in the Ring. Obviously, it is a different story if the track is less than 3 mins long (which 99% of the tracks in the world are). 918 will kill everyone in short track.
Didn't the car recover some good power into the 10-15 corners left to be done? Empty batteries charge well, right? Of course, it doesn't bring it back to full life, but still, free power.
Yes, it does regen along the lap, but the battery still doesn't last the entire Ring. It is a VERY long track, almost 2 times longer than the 2nd longest track in the world. And 4 to 5 times longer than 98% of other race tracks anywhere in the world. Take a look yourself. The white "ring" shape meter where it say "boost" is showing the electric soc. Sometimes the driver's right hand is blocking the meter. This is the world record lap. If you want an even clear view, here is the one with the meter clearly shown, as well as the speed measured by professional Vbox. This lap is about 3 second slower than the world record lap.
Good vid that last one.But you also see how past boost is regained under braking. That is not all energy lost. I don't know how much of a boost that still is between corners, but not nothing. Anyway, for a time attack lap you'd want the battery to be empty before the finishline, not after. Because then for sure you could have gone faster. If Rimac can process 400kW of Regen (3x a SuperCharger's worth, say 1500kph), that's a goalpost for future hypercars. Imagine 918 had so much, it would have way more boost to use. Triple, quatruple? But, braking performance still tends to suffer a bit from regen, it's not easy to adjust properly, driver loses soms brake feel as I understand it. Perhaps less of a problem with ABS and such fully engaged.
my understanding is that the "boost" gauge means the same as battery soc level. Notice the driver didn't have to press any buttons on the wheel to "boost" the car on straights for faster acceleration. All those boost are automatic and just part of the power delivery of the hybrid powertrain. Another pointer, the whole boost turns green color when it is being charged (regen), and stay white color if power is being drained. Also, when the boost gauge is showing no more boost, it isn't because the driver used the boost early, it is coz the battery is already at zero soc (like I explained above)
TBF the tesla could benefit from wheel (unsprung wt) and suspension improvements and heftier race circuitry-maybe gold plating connectors and/or graphene wiring allowing higher discharge rates in order to truly compete with the hypercars. Just sayin' when will the 'ring edition for the MS come out?
I know someone who makes cooling packs, and they can be made to be very cold... just sayin' if you want to compare apples to apples, a modded tesla vs. hypercar, nitrogen or helium can be used for short bursts of supercooling ( and may be get superconductivity, briefly.... )
It doesn't look like people in this forum are into EV drag races, the poll received very few votes so far.