EV Racing

Bucharest recently hosted the first eco Grand Prix. Conducted according to FRAS rules the race – which was open to legitimate licensed road vehicles – witnessed sixteen drivers taking part in the two-day Slalom event. Each driver completed four laps of a 1000 metre course – two test runs, and two competition runs. The coned-marked slalom course was laid out with twists and turns to be navigated by two classes of vehicle: up to 250HP; and those above 250HP. Only one vehicle was permitted to occupy the track at any time in order to achieve maximum speed grab! With just half a second separating the top three competitors the winners were:

1. Ciprian Cherciu in a Tesla Model 3
2. Mihai Beldie in a modified Porsche 944
3. Dragoș Craiovan in a modified Mini

Car modification was permitted – but all vehicles had Electric Propulsion – none were hybrids. Represented on the field were:

• Tesla Model 3
• a modified Porsche 944
• a modified Mini
• Tesla S85
• Peugeot E208
• Dacia Logan

Victron Energy achieved not one but TWO two glamorous milestones at the event – not only did our sponsored vehicle win; but we showcased our prototype Mobile Electric Vehicle Charging Station …without which the event could scarcely have gone ahead!

The eco Grand Prix heralds a new era of sustainable Grand Prix racing. As such, having a recharge station with a generator banging away in the background doesn’t quite fit the bill – so a prototype solar powered recharge station with Lithium battery storage was designed by Eastern European sales manager Lucian Popescu, and built by the well-known and successful distributors Darcomenergy and EcoAlternativ.

It featured an hydraulically operated solar panel array allowing the 12 x 370W panel arrays to be dropped for easy transport – and opened allowing the panels to be optimally-tilted toward the sun when in use. Two SmartSolar MPPT 250/60 units harvest energy for storage in 4 Lithium 25.6V Smart batteries. Three-Phase recharge with a 22kW power capability was supplied by 3 Quattro 10000 Inverter Chargers.

Also essential to the build was:

• Lynx smart BMS
• Lynx distributor
• Lynx power in
• Cerbo GX
• GX Touch 50
• GX GSM

Back at the pit between races, the recharge station was the main attraction! Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the event in this video shot by Ciprian Cherciu from Eco Drive: