What a weekend! After watching one of the closest Le Mans 24 finishes in recent memory as well as one of the unlikeliest finishes from the Montreal Grand Prix, maybe it’s for the best that I stay in and unwind for the night.
And nothing says “Sunday evening” better than:
>
June 10, 2011 marks the end of the Isle of Man TT event and also marks the centenary of its mountain course. First held in 1907, this incredible venue is even older than the Indianapolis 500, of which only celebrated its 100th anniversary last month.
More than an event with an illustrious past, the Isle of Man TT is also an event that warmly embraces the future. In FotW #21, we take a look at the third annual Isle of Man TT Zero, the clean emission electric motorcycle race.
Arguably the most stand out team in the electric class is Portland based, two-time TT Zero winner, MotoCzysz. This year, MotoCzysz fielded their unique Segway-Czysz motorcycle to win their event and to set a new electric lap record of 99.513 average mph, thanks to their newly developed 3-phase AC motor capable of producing an equivalent of over 200hp.
Moreover, the fairings on this year’s motorcycle completely shroud its innards. Last year, the 2010 MotoCzysz E1PC’s fairings were conveniently stuck in customs, allowing fans to get a closer look of the Czysz’s brilliantly engineered battery array design.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to dig up any substantial specs on the 2011 model but I imagine it’s essentially an enhanced and refined version of their 2010 bike. Undoubtedly, the battery array is the E1PC’s party piece. The 2010 E1PC possessed a 10 individual lithium polymer cell array, each cell weighing 19.5 Lbs.
Rather than have wires connect batteries to the bike, MotoCzysz created these docks that lock the batteries into receivers integrated onto the bike’s frame, conducting the batteries and supporting the batteries’ weight at the same time. This allows for lighter weight, stronger rigidity, durability, and quicker servicing.
The TT Zero is a fantastic event that deserves it’s place in the Isle of Man program as we benefit from innovations emerging from MotoCzysz’s and their competing teams. Both batteries and electric motors will get lighter and lighter as well as better packaged within a chassis. Whether you are an advocate of alternative energy or not, the question is no longer “if”, only “when”.
>This upcoming weekend will be chock full of racing. MotoGP visits the renovated Silverstone circuit. Formula 1 is in Canada. There’s probably a NASCAR race somewhere. But to top all of those is the endurance race by which all endurance races are measured against, Le 24 Heure Du Mans or the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
To get everyone up to pace, here’s a very concise yet still entertaining documentary. Enjoy!
>The United Parcel Service, or UPS, recently released video of a new big brown truck in its prototype testing phase. At first glance, the truck in the video looks like any other UPS delivery truck. However, the defining characteristic isn’t in the aesthetics but in the material makeup. The new truck is about 1,000 lbs lighter than the aluminum bodied truck due to its extensive use of ABS plastic. By shedding that weight, The Big Brown Machine can use a smaller motor and be a whopping 40% more efficient. This got us thinking about past environmental initiatives enacted by UPS.
Although in existence since 1913, 1989 would seem to be the turning point in the modern era for the United Parcel Service. By taking a look at alternative fuels for their iconic trucks, UPS set a precedent for its future as an innovator of fleet driven businesses. Their experimentation with compressed natural gas, CNG, has led to over 1300 of its current vehicles to be powered by the efficient fuel. It’s usage account for a 20% drop in emissions and a 10% increase in efficiency compared to the standard diesel truck.
While many consider electric hybrid technology as cutting edge, UPS has been experimenting with it since 1998 and ordered trucks in 2001 with the system. They had the experience of billions of miles to recognize that hybrid systems are highly beneficial for the stop-and-go type of driving they do. The money that has been saved on fuel by this hybrid system has also been reinvested by the company to further push the abilities of the technology. Recent orders for electric hybrids have made use of lithium-ion batteries to further cut weight and improve fuel economy. These types of batteries have only recently made it to the consumer market.
UPS also employs the use of hydraulic hybrid technology which isn’t used by the consumer market. First put into the field in 2008, this system is good solely for stop-and-go driving situations. Here’s a quick rundown on how they work. Regenerative braking powers a pump that pushed nitrogen from a low pressure vessel to a high pressure accumulator when the truck slows down or comes to a stop. When the need to accelerate occurs, the pump reverses its flow and send the nitrogen back to the low pressure reservoir via the mechanical driveshaft.
By thinking outside the box, UPS improved on the efficiency of its more conventional delivery trucks as well. In 2004, the company changed all of its delivery routes to make 90% of their turns right turns. This reduced the time that the truck sat idle while waiting for cars to clear before making a left turn. This tiny change paid huge dividends in the long run. The right turn strategy equates to a savings of over 28.5 million miles and 3 million gallons of fuel every year.
UPS maintains a working fleet of close to 100,000 vehicles, 20% of which use alternative forms of energy. They have shown that a company can be environmentally conscious and serve its customers without sacrificing quality. It would seem that brown is the new green.
Welcome to the future of Flappy Paddle Heads. We’ve decided to switch to WordPress because it allows more flexibility for what we hope our blog will look like. The switch to this URL will happen in due time. Bear with us as we make this happen.
We will announce when the switch takes place at the current Flappy Paddle Heads as well as on the Facebook fan page. Until that happens, new content will still be available there.
>Spectators of racing often look to the past and say,”those were the golden years.” This is said for many reason including the quality of racing, lack of electronic wizardry, and the diverse personalities of the drivers. However, many drivers have paid the ultimate price over the years and it’s too easily forgotten how their sacrifices have led to the relatively safe racing that we watch today.
>
Thanks to Bullitt, both Steve McQueen and the Mustang Fastback had become larger than life. Because of the immensity of the two icons, sometimes car fans forget something very important. Read this slowly and deliberately: Bullitt is only a movie.
With that in mind, and appreciating Bullitt as such, I wanted to share something with you guys this weekend. Not only did Bullitt win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, but it was also nominated for Best Sound.
I must confess, I wasn’t taken by the Lalo Schiffrin’s score at first but now I can’t imagine any other tune that could compliment Lt. Frank Bullitt so perfectly.
Have an awesome weekend everyone!
>Aside from the tornadoes hitting western Massachusetts, there has been some lovely riding weather lately. In addition to the splendid temperatures, a friend of mine is in the market for a new motorcycle and he’s very much into bobbers. Add in the Danny Choy factor of sharing a love for cafe racers and we have a perfect storm brewing. Thankfully we found this video and it supplies a much needed old school motorcycle fix while keeping us out of debt.
Big thanks to Oscar of the Squadra Sutge motorcycle group in Spain for these beautiful shots!
>Alain Bublex, anybody? Alain Bublex? No?
According to fr.wikipedia, l’encyclopédie libre, Alain Bublex graduated from the Graduate School of Industrial Design in Paris to later join Renault’s design team. Unfortunately, his career did not continue for very long as Bublex says, “I wanted to make cars, they wanted to make a profit.”
Where did he turn to? Fiat. But not exactly in the way that you’d expect. FotW #20 features his project from 2002, when Alain created what is perhaps the most bizarre collection of Fiat 126′s in the world. Although these cars are all fully operable, these art pieces most likely won’t be passing inspections. For example, how does one explain to a mechanic about The humongous propeller hanging off the front?
Some may have noticed Freak of the Week has somehow become Freak of the Bi-monthly. We thank you for your patience, we’ll be returning to our regular posting frequency soon!
>While everyone is celebrating their right to drink, grill, and have an extra day off on this Memorial Day weekend, FPH would like to thank those that have served this country. Thank you for protecting our freedoms and way of life. This being an automotive blog, we thought it prudent to showcase some military hardware that have also served this country well.
Happy Memorial Day! Have fun, be safe, and buy a serviceman a drink.
