e-miglia 2012

[kingcharles]

This year an e-motorcycle has entered the e-miglia 2012. It seems to be a 2012 Zero DS and according to the GPS tracker it is doing well.

Check the e-miglia website

And a video (in German)

[FreepZ]

From the  e-miglia 2012 website (translated by Google)

Example of a daily routine:
- Start time: 8.00 Clock
- Morning: Special Stage
- Lunch: Charging time 3 hours
- Afternoon: transfer stage
- Finish line: 17 clock
- Night time: 8 hours charging time

Yikes. Only 3 hours of charging. I wonder if that is enough time to charge something like a Zero. Perhaps Stefan Arnold has all the extra gizmos to allow him to charge the Zero faster. Also, since Germany uses 240 V as their standard wall socket voltage, I wonder if that will speed up charging.

[oml]

Another thing that makes me go "yike" is the entry fee. 1.5k! Without them i might have considered going there in two years.

oml

[FreepZ]

Ouch! 1500 isn't cheap. Maybe that's why all of those vehicles have sponsors plastered all over them. If you  can get some company interested in paying that bill for you, then it's totally doable.

According to the regulations:
  "The evaluation of the event is not geared towards tackling the stages at top speed."

It's not clear to me how the winner is established, and the regulations web page is a but vague. It appears to be a bunch of factors that are plugged into some chart to figure out points. I have no intention of participating, so it doesn't matter to me anyway.

[protomech]

It's a reliability rally, so I assume the closest to the target elapsed time wins.

The lunch charging periods have ranged from 3 to 5 hours, today is a short day.

Edit: The Delta-Q is limited to 12A across the battery. The only difference 120V vs 240V makes is that the charger is slightly more efficient at 240V, so the wall power draw should be lower.

I would definitely want at least 3 chargers to charge over lunch.

[oml]

ok, here is another video (german too, sry guys)


In this one the drivers complain about getting penalty points for finishing *early* ?!?

Honestly, i think that race/rally is retarded. Its either because they forgot to ban commercial built vehicles from entering - the whole rally might be fun if the people may only drive homemade converted ones or something. But here you just have to start with a Tesla Roadster, and wham, youve won.
Another possibility might be that it is just a more or less well hidden car commercial like "look, we at BMW / Mercedes / Audi can build such wonderful great electric cars! Look at them! Love Us! Nope, we cant sell you one [for a reasonable price]!" Such events are plentifull around here :|

I dont understand this.

[protomech]

If it's a reliability rally it's not about who finishes first - otherwise the Roadsters would be a shoo-in. You leave in a staggered interval, and you have to make a certain average speed or time when you arrive.

http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/24/racer-boy-coursemarkergimmick-rallyes-how-to-drive-around-lost-for-three-hours-and-win-a-trophy-doing-it/

I don't know how competitive the Zero DS is, but $14k + $2000 for 3 chargers and a high-speed charging inlet isn't a terribly high cost of entry for touring.