Electric Motorsport Championship To Be Held

Two electric karts were demonstrated by Ross Curnow and Euan Alers-Hankey during the Stars of Tomorrow meeting at Warden Law, United Kingdom. Series organizers are now talking to the promoters about running a championship for the machines in 2005.

The karts, one of which is pictured on the front cover, currently cost in the region of £5,000, have more than 50bhp and can achieve a 0-60mph time of less than four seconds. They are considerably heavier than a standard kart, but this is expected to be reduced in later models.

The karts are virtually silent and can be charged up from solar cells in approximately half an hour, giving around that amount of track time.

Gordon Foat says the association with Stars of Tomorrow is designed to spark interest in the concept. “Many people have not seen these karts before,“ he said. “The price is likely to reduce by the time a series is introduced because each kart is built by hand at the moment. My aim is to have a form of motorsport that uses renewable energy sources exclusively.”

It has been proposed that solar cells could be mounted to the roof of the Stars of Tomorrow tour truck to provide charging points for batteries.

MSA chief executive Colin Hilton was also present to see the demonstration.