'Lightning Rod' Sets Land Speed Record for Electric Vehicle

摘要

Using standard off-the-shelf technology the "Lightning Rod" streamliner electric vehicle driven by Eric Luebben, set a new land speed record for battery powered electric vehicles on the Bonneville Salts Flats in Utah on October 16, 1997. The record set at 346.22 kilometers per hour (km/h) for a flying mile was an official Federation International de Automobile (FIA) international record. The previous land speed record for electric vehicles was 295.83 kilometers per hour (km/h) set in 1994 by a prototype of the General Motor's EV1 electric vehicle. The record setting "Lightning Rod" was built with off-the-shelf components to demonstrate the safety, reliability and robustness of such components in a very abusive electric vehicle application, e.g. racing at speeds above 300 km/h on hard pack salt flats. This paper describes the steps taken in preparing the "Lightning Rod" for a land speed record and the reasons for selecting specific off-the-shelf components. A time log of the record runs with diagram of the Bonneville Salt Flats Course is also presented.