With major automakers now churning out EVs of their own, electric car conversion shops have taken a backseat in the news. Well, most shops at least. EV West has continued to crank out some incredible electric cars, including the Pikes Peak-dominated BMW M3 EV. At the behest of the fellows at Drive, EV West put their electric Bimmer on the dyno, and you won’t believe the results.
Unlike conventional cars, EVs are rated in kilowatts rather than horsepower and torque. But what does the 400 kilowatts translate into on the dyno? Not as much horsepower as you might expect, but a ton of torque; 850 ft-lbs of torque, in fact, and 342 horsepower at just 600 rpm. Host Matt Farrah compares it to a Ford Super Duty pickup with a tune, and he’s not far off.
All that torque has trashed more than a few parts on the EV West Bimmer, losing parts like a clutch and differential to all that torque. Even on the dyno the beefed-up Powerglide transmission may have thrown a gear.
Building EVs doesn’t always have to be about going green; sometimes it is just about all that torque. Even so, host Matt Farrah seems skeptical about the future of electric racing. And that’s his right.
But after seeing a car like the EV West BMW M3 EV in action, I have to wonder how he can have any doubts that the future of racing is electric. Sure, the sound of conventional race cars is awesome, but the potential for performance in EVs hasn’t even been tapped yet. Just wait until the Formula E series hits streets and see what I mean.
Source: Gas2.0
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