There's a time-honored tradition in the automotive business–if you want to make a name for yourself, or get some funding for your car ideas–make your mark on the race track. It worked well for Henry Ford. Back in 1901, before he even founded his eponymous company (but after at least one of his automotive start-ups had failed), he challenged and won a race against the hot-shoe racer of the day, Alexander Winton. He made his name, collected a purse and attracted some new investors.
Fast forward a century and change the location from Grosse Pointe outside Detroit to Moffett Field on the edge of Silicon Valley, California, and cast Tim Collins in the role of Henry. Rather than the Henry Ford Company, this time it's KleenSpeed Technologies. The story is familiar–like Henry and his partners, Tim and his team are out to change the auto industry.
"We plan on becoming a big car company," Collins said in a recent interview. Right now the investment banker's four-year-old company has six full-time employees and a dozen more working in various capacities, a non-paid president (himself) and a well-stocked trophy chest. While he sees his company drafting on the (hoped for) success of two other California EV-makers–Tesla in Palo Alto and Fisker in Anaheim–to use the racing analogy Collins sees his company passing them because of their later start, which has allowed them to build their models on more advanced battery technology, taking advantage of progress made during the past few years.
The company's real racing credentials are solid. Collin's Eiata, an electrified Mazda Miata, took first place in the EV Conversion class at the ReFuel 2011 race. The company's 160-mph EV-X11, a modified ALMS IMSA Lite 2 category vehicle, set a lap record in June 2011 during the same race as the Eiata, making it the fastest EV track racing car in the world by KleenSpeed's calculations. It was the third year KleenSpeed racers have won the ReFuel EV Challenge. They've also developed and submitted a proposal for a Formula E (for EV) car that would run in a series sanctioned by the Formula 1 race folks. But something more important than race trophies is at work in their Moffett Field offices.
"The racecar is the most demanding environment a car can experience,” said KleenSpeed EVP and Chief Technical Officer Dante Zeviar. "And all of the technology we're testing is transferrable to the commercial market."
Those technologies are the building blocks for electric KleenSpeed's cars. Like Tesla, which essentially launched its company around battery system in a borrowed car body and chassis, KleenSpeed is focused on three core "competencies":
1. Energy Storage Systems (batteries),
2. Electric Propulsions Systems (motors/controllers), and
3. Electric Vehicle Integration, which is making these systems work together in a car.
The race track has become their proving grounds. The Eiata was assembled a first time to make sure everything worked, then disassembled and re-assembled in its current form, applying integration lessons in the first round (as is always the case with race cars, it's subject to further reworking as new components come into play). The car, which packs a 36 kilowatt-hour battery giving it a 120-140-mile range, also functions as a daily driver for Collins. In addition to beating others on the track, the telematics installed on the car deliver 20 streams of data back to the Zeviar in the pits. That telemetry technology is also transferable to the commercial market, according to KleenSpeed.
The integration lessons from Eiata are at the core of the company, which will soon (time frames are still a little loose as is usually the case with start-up companies, but the company hopes to have its own vehicle on the market by 2014) be applied to KleenSpeed's first car of its own, the aptly named KAR.
The KleenSpeed KAR will built in four simultaneous stages in order to accelerate development. The stages encompass:
1. E-Max System-A powertrain sub-frame featuring KleenSpeed's 40kWh energy storage system, controller and motor delivering 100kW/134 hp with 221 lb-ft of torque. The goal is to deliver sports car-like performance along with 120-140 miles of real world range.
2. KAR Platform-A platform that incorporates the powertrain into a modular design utilizing two sub-frames (front with suspension/steering components and rear with EV motor and controller) and a sealed energy storage system consisting of the batteries and battery management system.
3. KAR VX-1-Using a Chinese-built EV two-passenger minicar and upgrading with KleenSpeed components, the company plans to begin testing this year with an eye to bringing a car to market in the U.S. in the $30,000 price range. Other models are possible using the same principle with small trucks, vans and sedans.
4. KAR VX-2-In this variation, already underway, KleenSpeed will design an optimized version of its minicar, which will be manufactured in China with final assembly in the U.S. The two-seater is planned to hit the market in 2014.
The focus on small two-seaters is by design, according to Collins. "Small, light weight cars are the best use of electric vehicles," he noted. Of course, race cars are built on the same principle, whatever their power source. The technology road map KleenSpeed is following leads straight from the track to the showroom--the unanswered question is how long it will take to get there.
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