The Engineering Behind The World's Fastest Electric Vehicle

[@drt1245]

Nitpick: Aerodynamic drag is quadratic (squared), not exponential. There is 4x as much drag when going 2x as fast. Power needed to overcome aerodynamic drag is cubic. You need 8x as much power to go 2x as fast.

[@jpkatz1435]

Not a "nitpick" very important for us non engineers, non math minds, to understand!! Thanks for adding this.

[@laurean5998]

Came to look for this comment, I know almost everyone makes the mistake but at least engineers shoud try to do better

[@Chris-bg8mk]

Drag=1/2Rho *Cd *v^2 *s Why do you need 8x the power when drag only increased by 4x?

[@drt1245]

@@Chris-bg8mk Power = Force * Velocity

[@duncanmartin2626]

@@Chris-bg8mk Power = work /time Work = force * distance So Power = force * speed (and force is your aero drag calculation plus rolling resistance etc)

[@comethiburs2326]

the badass part: this car started the record run on it's own with a 2:1 direct drive. nothing else but an EV can achieve that, the load must be insane.

[@AKAtheA]

pretty sure gas turbines *can* do that, their torque graph looks very similar to electric motors...

[@yankeedoodle7693]

@@AKAtheA a good example of misconceptions in EV dynamics

[@Smidge204]

@@AKAtheA Gas turbines have a minimum speed they need to operate; if they're not spinning, they're not compressing air into the combustion chamber, there's no combustion, and there's no power. This is why such turbines aren't self-starting. The output torque curve of an electric motor goes all the way to 0 RPM, the torque curve of a gas turbine does not. The torque curve of a *steam* turbine, or some other type which has high pressure fluid being pushed through it from an external source, goes all the way to zero... but the curve for any Brayton-cycle turbine will not.

[@yankeedoodle7693]

@@Smidge204 the gas generator and power turbine are separate stages on certain designs. You can stall the output shaft on a turboshaft engine

[@AKAtheA]

@@Smidge204 very few gas turbines have the LP turbine mechanically locked to the compressor and HP turbine. Because it's free to spin independent of the gas generator, it gives torque right from stall.

[@kyleflowers2641]

That was great. Can't believe a design so old is still leading the way.

[@GingerNingerGames]

The funny thing about computers is they do the same calculations we used to do with wood, they just do it faster.

[@daos3300]

aero could use a lot of work, could be much faster. but why build a new car when you already have one that's good enough.

[@Roguescienceguy]

Well those guys were something else back then. They did get a man on the moon on a pocketcalculator

[@lorenzosguaitamatti]

Back then, they made a leap forward with electronic systems, to get the man to the moon. They could still use the same chassis and create a better bodywork. Maybe they are sticking to what they know and to what they tink is safe to drive, managing only one difference at time. Also budget could be a limit.

[@JackMott]

@@lorenzosguaitamatti It isn't immediately clear how to improve the body work. Maybe smaller front wheels and get rid of those ridges, but that could negatively impact rolling resistance. To improve for sure would require a lot of time field testing or time in a wind tunnel. both are expensive.

[@stuartstephens]

The Vesco family are legends in land speed racing - it's cool to see that still running and setting records.

[@rdaw33]

Anyone know if this is the family that once included "Don Vesco", who I saw run there in 1976 running as I remember two road racing two stroke engines?.......

[@rdaw33]

Almost forgot, it was a two wheeled motorcycle.

[@greggbrooks6086]

@@rdaw33 Yes , Don Vesco Yamaha in El Cajon Calif. I raced motocross for them in the mid 70's.

[@MrGatlin98]

As someone who owns a 300w LED flashlight that puts out about 19,000 lumens, I can confirm that a 1000w flashlight would be insanely bright.

[@DevReaper]

I own a flashlight with a “mere” 4200 lumens and it burned through my jacket pocket without even being on turbo.

[@MrGatlin98]

@@DevReaper Sounds like a D4V2 or similar light. Nice.

[@DevReaper]

@@MrGatlin98 yep spot on D4V2 with SST-20 5000k leds

[@ytdrachengame1157]

The Imalent MS18 has a Peak power of round about 1000 watts. 🤟😎

[@loneponderer495]

I hate to be that guy, but it's kWh not w. Yep, I'm here to ruin your joke. 😂

[@TheSnivilous]

Something about your videos is just perfect. Entertaining and technical, one of my favorite channels. Maybe my favorite car channel. Maybe my favorite channel of them all.

[@cellularmitosis2]

yeah, he's definitely hit a sweet spot

[@gabechiplin8140]

Outstanding tube Matt! Apart from the stuff already noted I loved the throttle with the toe clip to pull it up in case it sticks and one tyre down to the cords. Gold.

[@DaniilMalevannyi]

I'm not sure about the algorithm, but I'm really impressed both by the video and the car

[@thecatofnineswords]

Trust the algorithm. It knows. All hail the algorithm

[@CED99]

All Hail the algorithm

[@coptotermes]

The algorithm is "Good enough."

[@Engineerd3d]

In 63 years it will be fusion powered using banana peals!

[@lazarusmagellan2367]

I’ll come back to this comment when I’m 80

[@WOEEW]

will come back

[@eduardomargutti]

If you're having trouble wrapping your head around the concept of putting 2 or more electric motors or any kind of motors together and getting them to work together and not against each other, just think about how the cylinders in a multi cylinder engine work together, there may be a slight mismatch in power between the cylinders and some percentage of "fighting". The average is a increase in power.

[@nordic5490]

No. These motors are not coasting. If one motor outputs 5% more than the other that is not a big deal. Even a 20% difference is fine.

[@EVLS10]

@@nordic5490 Not exactly. If they are putting out different levels of torque then that's perfectly fine. The issue at hand with syncing electric motors is frequency and speed. It is imperative that both inverters be driving the same frequency and thus speed to both of the motors. As long as they did the code right the first time then they are good. If they differ though. You get very large problems which results in massive motor/inverter strain in the form of excess current and heat buildup. This is why we use synchronization tech with our power grid to make sure the motors are spinning at the same speed and the phase angle is the same. One motor shooting for 5000 rpms and the other being slightly different will cause a ton of stress on both motors as both rotors are now fighting their perspective rotating magnetic fields because they are constrained together. The major benefit is that most inverters these days are smart enough to detect issues like this and avoid them or you can just run them in torque mode so that the frequency output is driven by the rotor speed alone.

[@woeufuS]

@@geemee3364 Yes, but the control of both is Amps. So the "throttle" is controling the torque, not the speed. But yes, you need two seperate inverters to do that trick. What I don't get is what the belt is for. You could drive one wheel with each drive train without coupling the motors and without any differential.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

@@woeufuS How would that look like? Cross wind would be a problem with this idea: Two bikes next to each other, but staggered staggered. The motor for each wheel is in the other bike. Directly connected by 4 shafts. Pendulum axis like on a bug.

[@BoB-Dobbs_leaning-left]

An inverter is simply a form of amplifier, it amplifies a signal. In a solar power system the signal is the frequency of the mains voltage required ie 50 or 60 Hz depending on your country. There seems to be no reason you couldn't use a single signal generator (speed controller) to control multiple inverters, in fact that is the way many multiple inverter systems work.

[@TheUAVpilot]

I wish more videos would explain the C ratings of the charge and discharge of batteries, this is just as important as capacity when it comes to performance.

[@guily6669]

I wish was that every god damn battery from every brand had C rating graphics as we have to search online for community tests to find out how good they are and most brands lie.

[@Suchness2000]

Capacitors will give more instant power than just batteries. Add lots of big capacitors along with batteries. Capacitors can deliver their charge faster than batteries.

[@Martin_Speed]

@@Suchness2000 LTO is a better choice

[@DanielCooper1]

This was easily the best delivered explanation of how and why I've ever seen. Thanks Matt.

[@JoelLackey]

Great video. Love seeing the evolution of the channel.

[@HalflingRC]

This channel is the most interesting and entertaining channel in KZbin. It is always like christmas to notice there is a new episode available to watch!

[@gsmdo8836]

Excellent as always Matt, many thanks 👍 First merch arrived yesterday in the UK (stickers) 😃

[@chrisestill8825]

I love that they have a chassis that old that is still holding up and laying down some record runs.

[@katanamd]

Another excellent video. Thank you!

[@RikiB-f4c]

This is simply a great video, well produced, well shot, and great editing... thanks Matt

[@JackalopeAutoClub]

Amazing history in that car. Too cool.

[@foesfly3047]

Your content is ridiculously fascinating!

[@sheanyquist]

Gotta love the engineering that goes into landspeed racing!!!!!

[@thatguyalex2835]

Same here. I am curious if the engineers working on the fastest electric car will do a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) run. Those could run on kerosene or ethanol, and output megawatts. If using e-kerosene (produced using renewable electricity, developed by Siemens), we would have the fastest green car in the world. :)

[@sheanyquist]

@@thatguyalex2835 the engineer working on the fastest electric motorcycle is not doing that. 😉

[@wabudo]

Great stuff Matt! All hail the algorhitm!

[@CED99]

Thanks for the video Matt it's really really really good and both educational and entertaining

[@marcofragoso9926]

Loving your content!

[@nordic5490]

Excellent presentation

[@Papa-Bogey]

Another reason to love SFM ... the science of speed explained in a way even I can understand. Thanks. “Omnes algorithmus salvete”

[@TomChame]

Excellent, thanks.

[@iwantoffroad]

love your content thanks for making this

[@joshuagies4900]

Great video! Super cool to get some additional info about some of the "teething" problems the team had when going for the record and how they solved for them!

[@nat9909]

What a great program! It's always entertaining even when I don't understand what you are talking about. I love going fast, though, and I love to see the way other people can go faster. Speed lives!

[@katywalker8322]

All hail the bald tyre

[@zacharynewton2361]

Excellent story. Thank you for sharing the engineering details!

[@manuelmanterola7070]

great vids matt!

[@brianboni4876]

That was good. The way you showed the rapid advances makes me confident they will beat the ice cars. If they only had room for a longer battery box they might have had the class record.

[@Chainsaw-ASMR]

5:15 they're going to change those tires before the next run...right?

[@Turbochargedtwelve]

Seems like a dedicated chassis is what they really need. Design if from the ground up to hold 4 or 6 battery packs and 4 motors and drivers. Land speed cars are weird in that they don’t care about weight or maneuverability so they could make it longer without much drag penalty to fit everything in.

[@patdaveydrums]

I love this type of piece Matt. So interesting and in depth yet succinct x

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

Turbinator...sounds like Terminator with a cold.

[@coopkink]

Entertained and learned a bit. Thanks for the video Matt!

[@sajidmonowar]

Nice video. Bonneville seems like a cool place

[@plinpain]

Excellent little docu video. Well done.

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

Nicely built video Matt. Thanks for it!!

[@yoyodynepropulsion.systems]

You have the best content. I have yet to be disappointed.

[@jan_phd]

When are the scram jet versions coming out?

[@jpkatz1435]

SFM: You are a fabulous teacher, presenter, describer. You have a 76 year old Fan Boy here. THANKYOU.

[@yodasbff3395]

Good stuff 👍

[@Adrianzx]

The model b to model s joke made me laugh too hard

[@KyleSSamuelson]

This was an awesome video, well thought out, narrated well, visual aids etc.

[@mitchamus]

I like how they are using a Fireboard BBQ temp monitor on the battery.. 6 probes sharing temp data via Bluetooth and wifi to the cloud… why wouldn’t you…

[@robertsavage7446]

Awesome! Thanks!

[@Rockport1911]

Thanks for the details. seeing that Tesla drivetrain I thought they had two motors/ rotors going there, but I didnt knew the other cylinder was just an inverter... :)

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

The TGV uses electric motors and that managed 357mph (5mph faster than this) in 2007… Guess the diesel generators it uses to power it’s bogies kind of makes it a hybrid rather than a full electric record though.

[@jsquared1013]

Diesel-electric hybrid, not a battery-EV

[@stonedmole2351]

The TGV is an all electric train

[@niconico3907]

TGV has no diesel engine, it is powered by overhead powerlines, like in any civilised country.

[@reubenwrigley1121]

Excellent video. I love your editing

[@jeremyhanna3852]

U forgot 1 ingredients in the recipe one giant set of balls to drive it

[@mattvoce1091]

Well produced and informative. Great job mate.

[@BuddyCorp]

Positive algorithm engagement comment! I like these short docos, you explain things well.

[@ejgrant5191]

The Vesco's are a great family....When I raced Yamaha TZ motorcyles back in the late 70's early 80's they always seemed to have parts in stock for our bikes even when Yamaha USA had empty shelves....Bonneville Royalty right there👍

[@michaelcunningham5748]

This is one of the best storylines you have published.

[@pawelwis7215]

2:28 those tyres...

[@nikovbn839]

All hail passionate people

[@dj_laundry_list]

2:54 love that ghost on the garage floor

[@Bravolvi]

Always great videos. Hello from Brazil

[@keithryan9314]

Very interesting stuff mat. Can't wait to see the jag finally get finished and seeing the reactions 😇

[@cyjan3k823]

Thats kinda crazy that record was in hands of students

[@mikeunsupervised9254]

Hmmm. Another LSR video and evidence that you've been reading the rule book... Matt's future project is aimed at breaking a record.

[@Mike_Costello]

As soon as he fantasised, I mean hypothesised, putting four tesla motors in there I knew he is prepping an idea. Maybe a hyper-Honda on the way or a a Super Fast Mattster is in the works.

[@hasidavid2]

In FPV drone racing they use LiPo batteries, that have a C rating of over 100. This much wouldn't be needed for this application, but you could also reduce the overall weight if you carefully choose the batteries to almost fully discharge at the end of the run.

[@Boosted86]

I can't believe they gave no forethought to the discharge rate of the batteries, its literally one of the first considerations when choosing batteries for RC's

[@NoorquackerInd]

8:39 Dang, I need to step up my 100W LED flashlight with 9 more

[@oscarjeans4119]

I wonder if you could make some sort of supercap setup work? You would need tons of space but they would spit out as much power as you need

[@johanfredin]

Do you know the continuos c-rating for the Honda cells?

[@Equine_moon]

Thanks for another informative video Matt!

[@ricknelson7824]

In regards to my comment earlier, the engines weighed 270,000 lb each , the generator side was over 50,000 lb, so with rotating mass of pistons, rods, camshaft, crankshaft, flywheel, and rotor all coupled and spinning at 327 rpm, approximately 50,000 lb rotating.

[@ex-engineer6657]

Thanks for sharing.

[@sfefsew]

That was awesome. Liked, commented, subscribed

[@_Schreintime]

Quality video

[@mikecyanide7492]

Crazy idea incorporate the full body into the battery structure almost fully encasing the pilot. A massive weight reduction and with the battery as the body cooling would be more efficient

[@WowCreativeUsername]

I love seeing pieces on Bonneville builds

[@morganoverbay8783]

The orientation of the motors is 90deg off. The square of the hypotenuse of angular momentum is massive! Like a chute dragging behind. Change the motors 90deg south, and the sin of the torque, over the the 2.1 ratio cubed...minus the velocity east at 22deg N, times the atmospheric pressure squared, that thing should REALLY SCAT!

[@SilviuHoratau]

All hail the contet creator and not the algorithm :)

[@jpkatz1435]

YES!!!

[@VEDEMRACING99]

I'd love to see how they designed that Belt drive system for the motors! Amazing that it can handle a thousand horsepower!

[@LabRatJason]

This car is soo cool. We were on a road trip and spotted this car parked at a casino in Wendover... the kids all jumped out and we got a picture in front of it. I had no idea it had the world record!

[@woodrow7201]

Yes, super good video with the right details down to the watt, though the Vesco Turbinator is really the fastest Land Speed Car. Jet cars are not pulling at the ground. We went 215mph FIA on 146hp and a 1.65:1 gear, lead batteries, and no pushoff in October of 1997. Rannberg Lighting Rod. it's amaizng how far it has come.

[@alexjenner1108]

How much did the Lightning Rod weigh? I checked the FIA site for the land speed records and the Lightning Rod still appears to have one of the fastest speeds for the under 1500 kg class (no longer the record holder). The under 1000 kg class record is held by a modified Le Mans sports prototype, that ran 205 mph with electric power back in 2013. I'm sure there must be a few cars out there that can go on a diet with new battery technology and take that record.

[@alexjenner1108]

Perhaps I should add, the EV West Electraliner appears to have run 229 mph two-way average in 2020 and from my understanding that car weighs less than 1000 kg, but I'm not sure if that run qualifies for SCTA or FIA or both.

[@woodrow7201]

@@alexjenner1108 We weighted 2650lbs as I recall. But, there were no weight classes in the rule book for Electric in fall of 1997. We were approached by the STCA and asked to write some weight class rules. I seem to recall we set the weights at under 500kg, 1000kg, and beyond 1000kg, which would have put us in class 2.

[@woodrow7201]

Correction, that put us in Class 111/e. Dont know if FIA has adopted the weights. In hind sight, we could have shed 26 batteries, run the same voltage and set some record in class 11/e. We were chasing the GM EV1 record of 183mph. I appreciate your comments.

[@alexjenner1108]

@@woodrow7201 Thanks for the update about the car and classes, FIA appear to have gone with 500kg, 1000kg, 1500kg, 2000kg ... limits. Not sure if they just keep going up in 500kg steps forever, but the Venturi VBB-3 streamliner appears to be in class 8, 3500-4000kg. Just looking back, that 1997 record is more impressive when you think that was way before the first Tesla, the first Nissan Leaf and even the first gen Toyota Prius Hybrid didn't come out in Japan until the end of that year and export models had to wait until 2000.

[@EdwardTilley]

Interesting video. When you see a video like this, it really is way too easy to wonder - why didn't they think of c-rating earlier? That seems like too obvious a requirement to have been overlooked. Mission accomplished though - it just occurs to me in hindsight that they should never have bothered coming to the track until the numbers said it would work.

[@dirkmohrmann8960]

They probably did. But published c-rating is not the same as actual max c - you can push most batteries past their rated limits if you ignore things like longevity. But you don't know how far they'll go until you try. You obviously can't easily test 1MW output outside of the car, although you'd think they could've tested individual cells.

[@Hawk7886]

That was covered in the video - you don't know your battery pack's actual C rating until you load it up and send it down the track

[@sheanyquist]

I've been in the same place, there's only so much testing you can do on the bench. The salt is the ultimate test bench

[@EdwardTilley]

@@dirkmohrmann8960 Most of the new "square" (non-cylindrical) EVE-style LiIon cells struggle beyond C1, so they would have had to come to the track with a C15 solution - it sounds like - as you mentioned. That's 15+- circuits configurable suppling C1 each ...

[@thecatofnineswords]

@@EdwardTilley hobbyist rc vehicles have batteries up to 50C. They get big though, to have a low enough internal resistance to support that much current. And expensive.

[@ChristinaPorter-s9y]

Gotta love the engineering that goes into landspeed racing!!!!!. Gotta love the engineering that goes into landspeed racing!!!!!.

[@KGopidas]

Incredible and enlightening, great wake up

[@chrisschlis9440]

Cool! And I learned more "something new".

[@MajSolo]

What I remember from school is that the faster an electric motor turns the stronger some counter magnetic field grows. And low RPM cause a lot of current to flow so peak somewhere in the middle?

[@davidschmidt6013]

Great vid! Thanks!!

[@_Hanover_]

Love the landspeed videos! All hail the Algorithm!

[@dbc105]

Cool vid, thanks Matt.

[@MasterofNoneTV]

I didn't know that about the hybrid batteries. Great info as usual.

[@christophershafer5615]

Would it be worthwhile to have two separate battery banks and switch between the two every 10s for example? So bank 1 can run at max/best output for 10s then swap to bank 2 for 10s and repeat.

[@CL-nj3zs]

This is why Toyota keeps using nimh batteries instead of li-ion for their hybrids. The nimh batteries in old priuses are 1.5kw but can easily put out 24kw. Thats 16C of discharge. It can also charge at the same rate during regen braking.

[@matj12]

C rating isn't just a number; it has the dimension 1/time. The calculation “capacity × C = output” doesn't check out otherwise. In the example around 9:10, the unit is 1/hour. That means that a battery with 5/hour as the C rating could discharge 5 times per hour of the charging times were negligible.

[@michaelpesce9235]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing 😎😎😎

[@sjorsangevare]

Great video!

[@125spectrum]

Thank you for another great video. It deserves a "Clarkson", the award for a great motoring video. Thanks again. P

[@4literv6]

Great stuff, now how about that ev jag? 😁

[@jamesdeath3477]

Love it. Fascinating.

[@thailandretromods]

02:27 Those wires showing on the front rubber 😮😮😮