Volta Grand Prix

I've been working on an electric racing kart since 2006. Got it up and running in 2007 and have been developing interest and waiting for better, more cost-effective batteries ever since.

The end goal is a pure electric racing series that can be used as a test bed for EV technology, to bring greater awareness to kart racing, and to enable more people to experience driving an EV.

Following up on yesterday's post about the future of racing, watch the first couple of minutes of the video below. You'll see the electric kart (the blue kart) and get a sense of its performance against a gasoline kart.

Keep in mind that there are a number of reasons why gas kart eventually pulls away. The electric kart has a higher top speed than the gas kart carrying the camera. But the tires are not suited to the slick surface, especially when they're cold. Further, because it's a true racing kart (no bumpers around wheels) I had to be careful around the turns not to touch the walls or any other karts or risk bending things.

But ultimately, if the batteries were able to store a longer charge the kart would outperform this particular gasoline kart. I predict this will soon happen in the near future as EVs go (more) mainstream.


Indoor Kart Racing MeetUp (In the Hotseat With Mike) from Volta Grand Prix on Vimeo

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Kart Racing Is the Future

The cost of professional racing is out of control. Most teams spend well over $100m per year to operate in Formula 1. It's $10m or more to field one car in Nascar's Sprint Cup series, and it's still millions per season to run in a number of other series such as IRL and American Le Mans. Even kart racing can be crazy expensive at $100k per year at the top level. Who is able and willing to do so? Is it any surprise then that kart racing is not a big time sport?

It's obvious what the problem is. The solution is to lower the barriers to entry. Make it more accessible to more people and there will be more participants.

Money is not the only barrier to racing. It's a big factor, but it's not the only one. The other main issues are location and technical knowledge. Racing requires a place to race and, if you own and maintain your own equipment, the know-how to do so.

Most forms of racing make it painful to participate by being an expensive chore. The tracks tend to be far from population centers, the equipment expensive, and the amount of equipment preparation is both time intensive and wasteful. Does it make any sense to have to throw away a set of tires after an hour of use in order to remain competitive? That's not the way it should be.

Kart racing can be quite costly, but if it were properly organized and promoted could serve as a very cost effective testbed for new technology that could be scaled up for larger vehicles (motorcycles, passenger cars, etc). A lot of data could be gleaned from all the cyclic loading and different drivers that karts would be subjected to in a short amount of time. If karts were powered by electricity, batteries and motors would be prime examples of things that could be tested.

Beyond that it is also also ideal for new media formats and social networking. People are moving from passively watching racing on TV to participating in it themselves, and sharing their experiences with others.
I've done a lot of racing in a variety of vehicles and formats and can tell you hands down some of the most fun is racing with good competition in equal equipment. The machinery might not be the most "pure" or sophisticated but that is a secondary concern. The quality of the racing (and the camaraderie) is incredible, and the price is downright cheap compared with any other form of motor racing. It is the future of racing. Here's are two recent clips:







Indoor Kart Racing MeetUp from Volta Grand Prix on Vimeo.

The Future of Motorsport Part 1

Racing is now a huge global sport encompassing many forms of constantly evolving competition. Where it is headed in the future is anybody’s guess but it will undoubtedly change dramatically over the coming decades, just as it has since its inception. That is its very nature, to continually innovate.

To hypothesize about where it is headed, we must first understand what it is. Racing is a captivating elixir of business, sport and entertainment, and engineering.

The business side has become increasingly professional. What started out as recreational rivalry among wealthy gentlemen has grown to become the domain of highly paid professional drivers and teams funded by multinational corporations. The gentlemanly element is still present in amateur areas of the sport, but the top level of the sport is now completely dominated by professionals who are paid to build exposure and recognition for their sponsors.

That is done largely through the entertainment value that racing provides for its audience. Spectators want to see great competition, fast cars, and recognizable drivers. It’s also important that the action is fair and the rules clear and easy to understand. There are many opportunities to deliver the “product” or entertainment, not just with live audiences and television but also with many types of new media.

Lastly, the engineering and innovation exists to enhance the business and entertainment sides of the sport. It shouldn’t be done for its own sake because that simply leads to costs spiraling out of control. Once the commercial benefits received are exceeded by the cost of competing, there is no longer a favorable return on investment. If the ROI is not favorable, sponsors withdraw and the series is emaciated or collapses. At worst it is destructive. At best it is unstable and cyclical. The only useful innovation is that which has relevance to society in the larger scheme of things, not purely for racing purposes.

These three items form the basis of the sport. All of them must be addressed adequately in order to maintain a healthy, professional racing series. In the next post I’ll discuss how I see racing evolving in the future.