Tracking an eray

[crazylegs]

I race at quite a few tracks in Alberta and was bombarded with emails from them last week that all electric cars were banned from racing. The reason being insurance companies won’t allow them due to possibility of fire in the event of a crash. I’m going to find out if this applies to the eray and other hybrids as well.

 

[gone]

Ouch. Keep us posted. Not an issue I would have thought of, so thanks for this heads-up.

Does this spell the end of track-use for newer model EV-type cars...forever???

 

[niktester2]

niktester2

 

[crazylegs]

Ouch. Keep us posted. Not an issue I would have thought of, so thanks for this heads-up.

Does this spell the end of track-use for newer model EV-type cars...forever???

Good question, this is all new to me as it just came into effect. I’ll try and get more information as soon as I can.

 

[crazylegs]

 

[crazylegs]

View attachment 108150

 

[Murray20c8]

Insane!

 

[crazylegs]

All hybrids and electric vehicles banned!

 

[DenisC8]

I guess old school corvette owners really do hate the E-Ray. Hell if they could find a reason they might ban the C8 entirely

 

[Rruuff Day]

I guess old school corvette owners really do hate the E-Ray. Hell if they could find a reason they might ban the C8 entirely

That's a load of &*(%ing crap Denis. Read up on the entire article. It's not just Corvettes, it's all EV and hybrids due to fire potential. Not only can they not race, they must park no closer than 30 feet from another vehicle. Much like a few years ago when airlines banned the Galaxy Note 7 and the Vivo phones from aircrafts. I suppose it was "old school" Blackberry owners who were behind that as well....

 

[DenisC8]

That's a load of &*(%ing crap Denis. Read up on the entire article. It's not just Corvettes, it's all EV and hybrids due to fire potential. Not only can they not race, they must park no closer than 30 feet from another vehicle. Much like a few years ago when airlines banned the Galaxy Note 7 and the Vivo phones from aircrafts. I suppose it was "old school" Blackberry owners who were behind that as well....

how come national council of corvette clubs didn't ban EV/Hybrids prior to the release of the E-Ray? how come other associations/race tracks didn't ban EV/hybrid supercars from other manufactures? will they ban new cars for being too fast?

if a car is safe enough to be on public roads, its safe enough at their events.

I don't race, but if an organizer of an event tells me to park 30ft away in a field I would leave. Passion for cars/corvettes is meant to unite people not divide them.

 

[Rruuff Day]

how come national council of corvette clubs didn't ban EV/Hybrids prior to the release of the E-Ray? how come other associations/race tracks didn't ban EV/hybrid supercars from other manufactures? will they ban new cars for being too fast?

if a car is safe enough to be on public roads, its safe enough at their events.

I don't race, but if an organizer of an event tells me to park 30ft away in a field I would leave. Passion for cars/corvettes is meant to unite people not divide them.

Agreed. And slamming non C8 Corvette owners is a great way to unite with them too. Not.

 

[DenisC8]

Agreed. And slamming non C8 Corvette owners is a great way to unite with them too. Not.

I said "old school corvette owners" not "non-C8 Corvette owners" its not what people choose to drive, its the mentality of "they don't make them like they used to" and "you know that's not a real corvette"

 

[Murray20c8]

The whole banning thing is asinine! Can't we all be friends?

 

[12cents]

As a firefighter I just recently completed training on EVs in accidents and fires. When it comes to fires, we can usually put out a car fire in less than 30 minutes. When it comes to EVs and the battery thermal runaway, it will take hours and tie us up for most of the day. We are telling tow truck drivers to only flatbed EVs (do not tow), do not leave them on the flatbed and to store the vehicle outside at least 50 feet from everything else. An EV can ignite weeks after an incident. We have even discussed the tow truck driver having an escort until the involved EV is off the flatbed. After saying all of the that, the battery is very, very, very rugged and does not damage easily. Do I think that this is an overreaction, yes. Because they either do not understand the technology or do not have the resources to deal with an incident. Blaming it on old school versus new school, or whatever you want to call it, is no better either. EVs will be accepted at tracks eventually so there is hope.

 

[DW Ruby]

It seems to me that while the problem is very real, the solution cannot be far behind.
The automotive industry has a lengthy history of introducing new features as a result of past 'issues'.
Seat belts came about as a result of overwhelming calamities, rather than a desire to be 'strapped in'.
So why target the race tracks? Here's a guess - insurance premiums.

 

[Cariboocreek]

Good news, if you are on an Eray list, you just moved up…lol.

 

[Vette1993]

As a firefighter I just recently completed training on EVs in accidents and fires. When it comes to fires, we can usually put out a car fire in less than 30 minutes. When it comes to EVs and the battery thermal runaway, it will take hours and tie us up for most of the day. We are telling tow truck drivers to only flatbed EVs (do not tow), do not leave them on the flatbed and to store the vehicle outside at least 50 feet from everything else. An EV can ignite weeks after an incident. We have even discussed the tow truck driver having an escort until the involved EV is off the flatbed. After saying all of the that, the battery is very, very, very rugged and does not damage easily. Do I think that this is an overreaction, yes. Because they either do not understand the technology or do not have the resources to deal with an incident. Blaming it on old school versus new school, or whatever you want to call it, is no better either. EVs will be accepted at tracks eventually so there is hope.

As a condominium owner there was a push to have our 2 story underground parking facility to be wired and fitted out with charging stations. I requested a moratorium on this idea until we can be 100 percent certain that we will have a minimal fire risk situation. While fuel propelled vehicles can obvious catch fire, they do not give off the uncontrolled harmful vapors, extreme heat, and high voltage dangers as their electric counterparts do. One EV on fire is real bad...how about three or more. We can have 50 vehicles per floor on average down there. We are 64 units sitting above a potential uncontrollable inferno with no guarantees. Things are on hold for now.

 

[12cents]

As a condominium owner there was a push to have our 2 story underground parking facility to be wired and fitted out with charging stations. I requested a moratorium on this idea until we can be 100 percent certain that we will have a minimal fire risk situation. While fuel propelled vehicles can obvious catch fire, they do not give off the uncontrolled harmful vapors, extreme heat, and high voltage dangers as their electric counterparts do. One EV on fire is real bad...how about three or more. We can have 50 vehicles per floor on average down there. We are 64 units sitting above a potential uncontrollable inferno with no guarantees. Things are on hold for now.

TBH, I wouldn't lose any sleep over issues with an EV as they are quite rare. My wife is considering buying one for her next vehicle. For the most part, the dangers are minimal and designs are improving. Don't forget, all vehicles are very toxic when they burn. One issue with ICE vehicles is the fuel. If the fuel tank fails, then the flames will possibly spread to anything nearby as the fuel leaks out and most fuel tanks are plastic these days on passenger vehicles. Any lithium battery (including the one in your laptop, phone, watch, key fob, etc...) will burn uncontrollably and we cannot put those out either. Lithium batteries are very common and we accept them without a thought to the dangers.

 

[crazylegs]

It’s going to be interesting when dodge comes out with the banshee and corvette with the fully electric version bragging about the track capabilities, and you can’t take it to one.