Ford has worn the crown for the best-selling pickup in america for many years due to the F-Sequence. It’s additionally the maker of the best-selling all-electric pickup in America, the F-150 Lightning, and now the blue oval firm needs to set the report straight with regards to racing–with a pickup, in fact.
Enter the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, which can have a go at this yr’s grueling Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb this Sunday with French driver Romain Dumas on the wheel. Final yr, the American carmaker set a brand new report within the Open class with its battery-powered SuperVan 4.2, so it is aware of a factor or two about racing an EV in arduous circumstances.
Race tech ultimately trickles all the way down to client automobiles
A 1,400-horsepower powertrain does not make a lot sense on public roads, however all of the tech that makes that occur might need huge packaging and effectivity advantages when engineers work out a approach to make them work on each day drivers. Till then, although, let’s admire what Ford did with the very spectacular F-150 Lightning SuperTruck EV.
However what does it take to make a record-setting race EV? Quite a bit, because it seems. The F-150 Lightning SuperTruck is a battery-powered monster, as we realized from the one-hour-long Out of Spec Opinions video on the high of this web page.
All the things has been made to squeeze out as a lot energy and torque as attainable and to be as sturdy as attainable. The lithium-polymer nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery pack solely has a 50-kilowatt-hour capability however can discharge a whopping 1,500 kW of energy to the three electrical motors that make greater than 1,400 horsepower. When decelerating, the regen system can ship as much as 600 kW of energy again to the battery. For the 12.5-mile Pikes Peak course, that’s lots.
The 2 motors on the rear are related to a single limited-slip differential, which is totally different from conventional dual-motor setups with torque vectoring within the sense that the entire torque will be directed to a single wheel via the mechanical diff. In distinction, a torque vectoring system can solely direct the utmost torque of the motor that powers a specific wheel.
As a reminder, the 156-turn course at Pikes Peak is a public highway, so the floor is much from good, with bumps and small potholes. With this setup, the SuperTruck can put down the utmost energy output of the 2 rear motors to a single wheel when wanted.
The powertrain’s motors and inverters are twin three-phase models, primarily making it a six-phase setup. This improves the facility density and may help handle the immense torque figures.
The battery and the electrical motors are cooled utilizing a water-glycol answer just like common antifreeze. After a trial run, the truck’s electrical elements will be force-cooled utilizing an exterior dry ice field that feeds the built-in fan. This helps the staff recharge the battery a lot quicker than if it needed to look forward to the built-in cooling system to do its factor.
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The charging gear can also be exterior. Utilizing a 500 kWh cellular DC quick charger, Ford can high up the SuperTruck’s battery at a charge of as much as 400 kW due to a 900-volt succesful charging field that’s attached on to the high-voltage battery. Lightness is of the essence with any race automotive, so there isn’t a onboard charger right here.
Moreover, Ford makes use of a inventory F-150 Lightning to heat up the tires for the race truck via the 240-volt outlet within the mattress, which is fairly cool.
Try the video above and tell us your ideas within the feedback beneath. Do you assume Ford can get one other win this yr at Pikes Peak?
