Nashco said:
Anyway, there are lots of ways to improve...feel free to take all of these ideas for the next challenger to this semi-official record!
Bryce
1)
Drag - Wind resistance - high elevation and hot ambient temperatures thin the air, making it easier for any object to pass through the air. In the airplane business, we call this calculation "density altitude". Here's an easy to use online version: http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da.htm. The most "
aerodynamic" vehicle will cut through the air with the least resistance.
2)
Drag - Rolling resistance - drag from everything that rotates to move the car; tires, wheel bearings, u-joints or cv-joints, gears and bearings, gear lubricant. Generally, the hotter the lubricant, the lower its resistance; the higher the tire air pressure, the lower the tire resistance.
3)
Gravity and Mass equals Weight - as long as there is gravity, it will take energy to accelerate mass and energy to propel mass at speed. Obviously, it also takes significantly more power to lift the mass away from the gravitational pull while driving uphill.
Quite simply, lighter is better.
4)
Ideal speed - every vehicle has a speed where the intersection of the power required to overcome drag and weight is the least. Heavy cars with high drag tires (but extremely aerodynamic) like a Tesla tend to be most ideal in the 20-25mph range and small, lower mass cars like LEAF and Spark EV are probably in the 10-15mph range. Obviously, anything that uses power that isn't being used to overcome drag and weight is a waste; the heater, a/c, etc.
5)
Hot batteries store more energy - the hotter the better, however, this same heat tends to significantly shorten their life (Nissan LEAF in Phoenix) and in some cases (Boeing 787), make the battery fail.
That's it! Hit the ideal speed, at the lowest weight with the least drag and the most stored energy!!!!