Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro Pops an Electric Wheelie on Its First Pass!

Check out what we captured! The literal first-ever run of the Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro, an all-electric drag racer, and it’therefore popping up its wheels! To reiterate: The photograph you are considering from January 26, 2019, is the time this dragster has ever been on a drag strip. Our resident photographer Brandon Lim just happened to be in Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass drag strip since yours truly and my cohost Jethro Bovingdon were also still filming a new episode of Head 2 Head. Talk about being in the ideal place! Back into the run, the eCOPO conducted a 10.14 on its initial launch, before finally dropping the time down to 10.03 in 138 mph. Does this bode well for the future, or what?

A small history: The SEMA darling eCOPO is a joint venture between both McCue & Lane Electric Race Cars and General Motors. Patrick McCue is a high school shop teacher in Washington State. The motors and batteries were designed and manufactured by GM at Michigan, then McCue and his team incorporated them into the eCOPO at Washington. Even the dual-stack motors bolt directly up to any transmission that could manage a Chevy LS motorvehicle. Consider it as a concept crate engine. The eCOPO uses the standard COPO’therefore TH400 three-speed automated transmission. The eCOPO was built to operate at the NHRA’s Stock Eliminator course.

Output is ” 800 horsepower, using each engine making 317 lb-ft torque & ldquo: simply beneath. The car uses a 32-kW-hr battery package with enough juice for three launches. The eCOPO team uses a charger to make sure that the Electric Blue beastie is completely charged for each and each run. Why? “Voltage is the limiting factor in RPMs,” states McCue. The further RPMs, the rate. Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that–for instance–a fully charged Tesla Model S launches better than one which ’therefore a bit drained. The car has a flexible ramp speed, which regulates how quickly the motors were hit on on by the electrons. That run, the speed was established at 50 percent. The subsequent runs were 100 per cent, and the torque overwhelmed the Mickey Thompson drag radials.

I reached out to former Camaro chief and newly appointed head of engineering for all things electric at GM, Al Oppenheiser, to get a remark. Oppenheiser states, “As Mary [Barra] and Mark [Reuss] have made clear, we are turning our firm into the next generation. A universe of zero accidents, zero emissions, and even zero congestion. The eCOPO is an illustration of what could be achieved to some traditionally internal combustion sport in a universe of zero emissions. ” Al increases, “And how about that instantaneous torque? ” How about it, how indeed? Want to see the eCOPO Camaro pop wheelies and try to crack into the 9s along with your eyes? McCue and his crew will be operating it (with wider tires) in the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, California, beginning February 7.

The post Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro Pops an Electric Wheelie on Its First Pass! Appeared initially on Motortrend.

Buy Tickets for every event – Sports, Concerts, Festivals and more buytickets.com