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Written by Craig Jamieson
Choosing humanity"s greatest strength is a bit of a tricky task. Is it opposable thumbs? Speech? The ability to convey information in a series of squiggles and dots? Sarcasm?Well, with the C5 go-kart as exhibit A, we"d like to suggest that the greatest gift of all is that of boredom. Without boredom, we"d never have ideas like an all-electric go-kart that can fling itself from a standstill to 60 miles an hour in just 1.5 seconds. If you remember, that"s basically an EV record, attained by the Grimsel, a vehicle that resembles a go-kart, if it were prepped to tackle Pikes Peak. But, unlike the Grimsel, which uses four wheel hub-mounted electric motors to propel the 168kg pocket rocket from zero to 62mph in 1.513 seconds, the C5 uses a brace of EDFs to quite literally blow itself from here to very far away in about the time it takes to make a confused grunting noise. So, you might be wondering, what exactly is an EDF? Well, it stands for electric ducted fan, which might give you some clue as to the nature of the modern art masterpiece that adorns the back of the C5. If it looks a little aeronautical, that"s because it is; it uses the same principle as your average prop plane, but within a shroud that is eerily reminiscent of an airboat. And they"re certainly a laugh. The principle is much the same as in the aviation industry air is sucked into the leading edge of the fan shroud, is sped up and spat out the back, creating thrust. Wonderful, exceptionally dangerous thrust. So, while the standard C5 Blast go-kart uses a 10kW electric motor to propel itself from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, the Ultimate" spec (it"s hard to argue with the title when it has that many motors) harnesses the power of propellers and the spirit of a Louisiana airboat to accelerate from zero to 60 in a rather worrying 1.5 seconds.
Date written: 14 Jun 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 8138
Choosing humanity"s greatest strength is a bit of a tricky task. Is it opposable thumbs? Speech? The ability to convey information in a series of squiggles and dots? Sarcasm?Well, with the C5 go-kart as exhibit A, we"d like to suggest that the greatest gift of all is that of boredom. Without boredom, we"d never have ideas like an all-electric go-kart that can fling itself from a standstill to 60 miles an hour in just 1.5 seconds. If you remember, that"s basically an EV record, attained by the Grimsel, a vehicle that resembles a go-kart, if it were prepped to tackle Pikes Peak. But, unlike the Grimsel, which uses four wheel hub-mounted electric motors to propel the 168kg pocket rocket from zero to 62mph in 1.513 seconds, the C5 uses a brace of EDFs to quite literally blow itself from here to very far away in about the time it takes to make a confused grunting noise. So, you might be wondering, what exactly is an EDF? Well, it stands for electric ducted fan, which might give you some clue as to the nature of the modern art masterpiece that adorns the back of the C5. If it looks a little aeronautical, that"s because it is; it uses the same principle as your average prop plane, but within a shroud that is eerily reminiscent of an airboat. And they"re certainly a laugh. The principle is much the same as in the aviation industry air is sucked into the leading edge of the fan shroud, is sped up and spat out the back, creating thrust. Wonderful, exceptionally dangerous thrust. So, while the standard C5 Blast go-kart uses a 10kW electric motor to propel itself from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, the Ultimate" spec (it"s hard to argue with the title when it has that many motors) harnesses the power of propellers and the spirit of a Louisiana airboat to accelerate from zero to 60 in a rather worrying 1.5 seconds.
Date written: 14 Jun 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 8138
