by Brent Singleton, Kent Singleton and Stan Hanel

The Bonneville Salt Flats land speed raceway in Wendover, Utah is a unique national treasure. It

was originally formed on 159 square miles of residual potash salt deposits left behind by the

evaporation of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville. In 1912, this special surface was tested for

automotive land speed racing because the salt lakebed area was so flat over such a vast

expanse that a racer could see the curvature of the earth. Also, the cooling effect and traction of

the moist salt on automobile tires allowed for faster speeds to be achieved than on traditional

paved road surfaces over longer distances. In the 1920s and 1930s, Ab Jenkins broke all

previous worldwide automotive land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats while driving the

.Mormon Meteor.. His record-setting feats attracted the attention of other international racers of

his era. Since then, Bonneville has become one of the world.s most famous international

raceways where everyone is welcome to compete on the same playa. Backyard builders have

always raced alongside some of the finest automotive engineers in the world.

In 2006, a biographical movie titled .The Worlds Fastest Indian., starring Sir Anthony Hopkins,

told the story of H. J. .Burt. Munro and his record-setting 1924 Indian Scout motorcycle at

Bonneville Salt Flats. This motorcycle mechanic and racing enthusiast traveled all the way from

Invercargill, New Zealand, to Wendover, Utah during the 1960s on a shoestring budget, receiving

timely help from a lot of unexpected friends he met along the way. After his arrival, he fulfilled his

quest to establish a land speed record exceeding 200 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats during an

international Speed Week competition. His 40-year-old record still stands today:

http://www.indianmotorbikes.com/features/munro/munro.htm

Wally Parks, a founder, guiding light, and .Father. of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)

was also a leading advocate for land speed racing at Bonneville Salt Flats until he recently

passed away in September 2007 at age 94.

Several organizations hope to continue fostering this pioneering spirit and record-setting legacy

.on the salt., including:

---The Southern California Timing Association- Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (SCTA-BNI). This

organization has hosted the international Speed Week and World Finals competitions annually for

---The Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA), another active organization of international

---The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the world.s oldest international land speed

---LandRacing.Com and BonnevilleRacing.Com, two online racing communities that provide

support to their members and promote the Bonneville Salt Flats land speed raceway at:

http://www.landracing.com

http://www.bonnevilleracing.com

In the picture shown above, SCTA President Jim Lattin (left) greets USFRA President Jim

Burkdoll during the SCTA-BNI .World Finals. event staged in October 2007.

Brent and Kent Singleton are members of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) and

the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA-BNI) at Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover,

Utah. The .father and son. team are also the Bonneville Salt Flats Alternative Fuel Event

Their personal website is:

www.Race2TheFuture.com

where they invite the world to test and tune alternative fuel vehicles, including human-powered

platforms. They hope to collaborate with different organizations to create new events at the

world.s most famous land speed raceway that will encourage the growth of alternative fuel racing

and performance enhancement, in the same way that petroleum-powered vehicles have been

improved and performance-tested on the Salt Flats for the petroleum industry.

This link on the USFRA web site shows the Electric Racing rule requirements for participation in a

recent World of Speed Alternative Fuels Event at Bonneville Salt Flats:

http://www.saltflats.com/Electric%20Rules.html

Brent and Kent emphasized that these rules are a preliminary first effort to outline new alternative

fuels racing events at Bonneville Salt Flats. These racing rules will be upgraded for World of

Speed 2008 as more alternative fuel vehicles become involved and new racing classes are

formed.

The land speed racing communities. interests include conservation to preserve the Bonneville

Salt Flats for future generations by making this land speed raceway the premier place in the world

to test and tune all types of vehicles. The racing organizations that use this land actively work

with local mining interests and government agencies to help in this conservation effort through

fundraising as well as donated materials and research expertise.

The original 159 square miles of the evaporated salt bed has now shrunk to about 26 square

miles due to decades of salt mining that pumped out the liquid brine beneath the salt bed for salt

processing and harvestin. Only recently has the federal Bureau of Land Management and local

government started working with the local mining industry to reprocess this brine solution and

reapply it back to the salt bed surface to try to conserve and expand the quality of the salt for

future generations.

Even today, many racers feel that the past mining efforts under the salt bed have caused erosion

in the quality of the salt over the years. The racing organizations have been able to work with the

Bureau of Land Management to give historical data and perspective on these changes.

Brent and Kent have a long history of involvement with alternative fuel racing at Bonneville Salt

Flats. When Brent was in Junior High School, the team acquired an award-winning Ford Escort

hybrid gasoline/electric vehicle that was designed and developed by Weber State University in

Utah. During the 1990s, faculty and students at WSU worked together under a Ford Motor

Corporation grant to win a national competition with other universities who all sought to create a

cost-effective gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle on the Ford Escort platform. WSU.s design used an

electric motor with a chain drive linked directly to the transmission gear box. This configuration

could drive the transmission and power train in three ways:

1. Directly from either the electric motor powered by a rechargeable 96-volt battery pack

2. Directly from the stock gasoline engine

3. Combining the electric motor and gasoline engine so that they worked together

After acquiring the vehicle during an auction, the team continued to work with Weber State

University professors who were advisors on the original student project. With Weber State

University faculty help, they added solar and wind power charging capabilities to the 96-volt

battery system. Their .quadbrid. alternative fuel vehicle became the first gasoline/electric hybrid

raced on the Bonneville Salt Flats, recognized by Car and Driver magazine in February 2005.

The Ford Escort also serves as the tow vehicle for their Electric JAWS, Jr. racing sled.

For these and other environmental transportation efforts, Brent was recognized by the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and presented with a Presidential Environmental Youth

Award (PEYA) in 2006 as well as a corporate-level Clean Air Excellence Award (CAEA). After

graduation from high school, Brent accepted a position as a representative of the Utah Clean

The Utah Clean Cities Coalition collaborates with similar organizations in other states to propose

infrastructures that support a .greener. way of living for people in urban environments

The 2007 racing season at Bonneville Salt Flats established several historic record-setting

highlights for eco-friendly electric vehicle racing enthusiasts.

The premier annual event on the Bonneville Salt Flats is .Speed Week., organized this year from

hosted by the Southern California Timing Association- Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (SCTA/BNI) at:

http://www.scta-bni.org

The Ohio State University is an active participant in Bonneville Salt Flats racing, where its student

engineering projects have set new Electric Vehicle international land speed records. In 2004, an

undergraduate student engineering team raced the .Buckeye Bullet. streamliner to a new national

land speed record of 315 miles per hour, becoming the first electric vehicle to officially exceed the

300 mph benchmark. The Buckeye Bullet employed a 900-volt rechargeable battery system to

drive a 400-horsepower electric traction motor. This new record exceeded the team.s record

from the previous year of 257 miles per hour. The 315 mph mark was set by averaging two

sequential time trials over a 5-mile track with only a short recharge time in between runs:

http://www.roadtobonneville.com/media.html

The Buckeye Bullet was driven by Roger Schroer, who is a manager of driver training at TRC,

Inc., one of the world.s largest independent automotive testing facilities located in Marysville,

Ohio:

http://www.trcpg.com

During August 2007, the team introduced its new .Buckeye Bullet 2. streamliner during the

International Speed Week competitions at Bonneville:

http://www.buckeyebullet.blogspot.com

The Buckeye Bullet 2 (BB2) is a completely new design with more length and aerodynamic

properties to accommodate a fuel cell system that now drives its powerful electric traction motor

in place of the 900-volt battery pack used in the original Buckeye Bullet. The goal of this multiyear

project is to exceed the 315 mph record of the Buckeye Bullet 1 and to insure the safety of

the fuel cell propulsion system.

’’While fuel-cell vehicles have been in production for some time, they were never imagined to

reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour,’’ said OSU adviser Giorgio Rizzoni.

On its second and final run of Speed Week 2007, the BB2 reached 201 mph with its electric

motor running at 9,500 rpm in second gear. Roger Schroer was once again the driver (pictured

above in helmet mask preparing to enter the cockpit). A cockpit video of his 201-mph run is

The Ohio State University Engineering race team has also been involved with fuel cell research

efforts involving Ford Motor Company, Roush Racing and Ballard Power Systems. During Speed

Week 2007, an experimental Ford Fusion 999, equipped with a fuel cell driven by two tanks of

compressed hydrogen and helium-oxygen (heliox), showed that membrane fuel cell technology

could drive a 770-horsepower AC electric motor to average 207 mph on the Bonneville test track

over two 5-mile runs. The fuel cell was provided by Ballard Power Systems at:

http://www.ballard.com

The Ohio State University.s engineering department provided design experience from the

Buckeye Bullet 1 and land speed racing knowledge to advise the Ford research engineers.

Roush Racing provided vehicle fabrication and racing design expertise for the Ford Fusion

platform.

A fuel cell can be twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine by converting fuel directly

into electrical energy without combustion and is a clean power source that emits water (H20) at

the its exhaust drip pipe instead of CO2. However, because of this chemical reaction, there are

also many problems to overcome before a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle can be put into

mass production for the average U.S. consumer to purchase and drive reliably.

--Historically, fuel cells have not worked well below the freezing temperature of water.

--Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology currently uses a stack of membrane

.sandwiches., where each cell .sandwich. is rated at only 1.0 to 2.0 volts. To achieve the high

voltage and current necessary to drive an electric vehicle can require a stack of 100 or more

cells.

--As part of the chemistry mix that converts hydrogen and oxygen gases through each PEM cell

into electricity and H20, each membrane .sandwich. employs an internal coating of either

platinum or palladium at the anode of the cell to act as a catalyst for the conversion process. At

this stage, the catalyst causes the hydrogen atoms to split into positive hydrogen ions (protons)

and negatively charged electrons. Platinum and palladium are rare, expensive materials and the

world supply of these materials is limited. This lack of supply may not allow for easy scaling to

mass production for EV fuel cell systems until a cheaper, more readily available catalyst is found.

--The current U.S. gasoline station distribution infrastructure may not be easily converted into

hydrogen distribution stations. A hydrogen dispensing station is more expensive to build and

maintain. The storage tank in a fuel cell EV must also be more durable than traditional gas tanks

in today.s gasoline vehicles and will be more costly to produce. For example, the hydrogen gas

tank used in the Fusion 999 is constructed of aluminum and carbon fiber. It must be extremely

durable in order to compress the hydrogen to 5,000 PSI to contain the maximum volume of the

gas in a small vehicle space. A second helium-oxygen (heliox) gas tank in the Ford Fusion 999 is

compressed to 2400 PSI and is employed in place of an air compressor to provide 40 times the

normal oxygen that would be available from compressed ambient air. The tanks. outputs are

regulated so that equal gas pressure is applied to the two inputs of the membrane fuel cell stack.

Both tanks occupy the full trunk space of the Fusion 999 sedan and the rest of the propulsion

system displaces the back seat, passenger seat, engine compartment and vehicle undercarriage,

leaving only room for the driver and roll cage.

This 10-minute .YouTube. video by Autoblog Green profiles the design of the Ford Fusion 999

and interviews three of Ford.s design engineers about the project at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rACx-YJXEgg

A more promising fuel cell project at Ford for a mass production electric vehicle is a modified

.Edge. SUV that has been converted to a Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) battery/fuel cell electric vehicle.

A prototype is on the road in Austin, Texas. The following video shows a test drive and overview

by one of its designers filmed by CarData Video, featuring the hybrid combination of a smaller

hydrogen-powered fuel cell and rechargeable battery pack that drives the vehicle.s electric motor

system at:

No gasoline is used at all in the hybrid .Edge.. The first 25 miles can be driven using batterypowered

electric only until the battery pack.s power capacity is diminished (nominal total battery

range 32 miles), then the Hydrogen Fuel Cell comes on to recharge the batteries and extend the

range. The vehicle can be plugged in at night to recharge the batteries directly from a 110-volt

outlet at a person.s home.

Like GM.s .E-Flex. power train and chassis design for the Chevy .Volt. PHEV, Ford is also trying

to design its PHEVs with the capability to employ hybrid technology from alternative fuel sources

such as biodiesel or gasoline. Ford has recently announced and heavily advertised a commercial

gasoline/electric hybrid version of the Mercury Mariner SUV this year.

The Ohio State University College of Engineering

2070 Neil Ave., 025 Hitchcock Hall

Columbus, OH 43210-1278

Phone: (614) 292-4064 Fax: (614) 292-1955

During the recent World of Speed event hosted by the USFRA in September 2007, Brent

Singleton competed with Electric JAWS Jr., a battery-powered drag race sled that he and Kent

developed while Brent was in junior-high school. In the picture shown above, Kent is walking

behind the vehicle while Brent is in the driver.s seat at the starting line, anticipating his next timed

run. Brent attempted to break the 132.353 mph record for the .less than 1,099 pound (500 kg).

electric vehicle racing category over a 1-mile track.

He had become an experienced driver while honing his skills during exhibition drag races against

drag race tracks. Electric JAWS Jr. has now been upgraded to .run on the salt. and is

equipped with better gearing and power train technology to chase new land speed records in its

racing class.

A recent newspaper article profiling Electric JAWS, Jr. as an experimental land speed racer along

with a history of Brent.s efforts can be found in the Deseret Morning News at:

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695206731,00.html

Electric JAWS Jr. Specifications:

A. 6.7-inch Advanced DC Series Electric Motor (Part #K91-4003), 8 hp continuous at 48 .

96 VDC, 35 hp peak, reversible, single shaft, base mount, can drive EVs up to 1500 lbs.

Weight is 60 lbs. Nominal cost $690 (U.S.)

B. Motor Controller.Café Electric Zilla Motor Control System with Hairball Programmable

Interface (Part #Z1K-LV), 72 . 156 VDC, 1000 Amps Maximum, IGBT technology, 15.7

kHz pulse-width modulated, safety features built-in. Weight is 23 lbs. Nominal Cost is

$1975.

C. Zivan Onboard Battery Pack Charger (Part #NG-3) supports specified battery packs from

132 . 300 VDC at 2800 Watts. SB-50 Connector included for 120 or 240 VAC input. Weight

15 lbs. Nominal Cost is $965.

D. Battery Pack-- SPS15 Hawker batteries (12 each at 12 volts) = 144 volt battery pack

E. 25" Goodyear rear tires that were loaned by Gary Allen, previous president of Utah Salt

F. Power train gear ratio 2.4 to 1

During World of Speed, Brent made three runs over a two-day period to chase his goal of 136

mph. The first run was encouraging, reaching 118 mph according to the team.s onboard GPS

during the fastest point of the timed trial.

.Electric JAWS Jr. ran so strong on the qualifying run that we were confident of our 136 mph goal

the very next run,. said Kent. .We recharged the battery pack quickly from our Zivan 220 VAC

charger but Brent said it felt like the batteries didn’t get a full charge between races. We took our

time and .top-charged. the battery pack three times over that night to be sure to have a full charge

on all of the five-year old batteries. However, our remaining two runs never exceeded 118

mph again. The motor is capable of 7000 rpm. The electric motor smoked during the third run,

but it still ran 110.89753 mph..

Qualifying/Calibration Run:

2/10 mile 1.12021 80.34208

1/2 mile 0.86677 103.83377

1 mile 0.62949 108.50040

World of Speed.s Alternative Fuels racing program also initiated an Electrathon America EV

racing competition on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Electrathon America was formed as a racing organization during the 1990s to promote the

construction of low-cost electric vehicles, particularly among students and hobbyists:

http://www.electrathonamerica.org

A 44-page handbook of construction rules and regulations is available as a free download in

..pdf. file format from this site:

http://www.electrathonamerica.org/handbooks/handbook_07_08.pdf

Many of the specifications in the handbook outline standard safety requirements for design and

construction of the Electrathon vehicles, emphasizing the necessary protection needed for racers

during extreme cases of vehicle rollover while traveling at speeds in excess of 50 mph. These

requirements include details of rollbar, brakes, padding and cockpit design that include the

relative location of the driver.s helmet within the racing platform. These requirements and

guidelines were very helpful during the rigorous technical inspection performed by USFRA

officials prior to the Bonneville Electrathon event.

Electrathon vehicles are limited to carrying 67 pounds of sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries in their

power pack to equalize and standardize the competition. During traditional Electrathon races,

competitors normally strive for range, seeing who can travel the fastest and farthest on a race

track over one hour by using a minimum of electrical energy. Electric motors are often scaled

down to 2 horsepower or below. However, even with these limitations, the EVs can achieve a

range of 50 miles during a one-hour racing event, usually traveling at average freeway speeds of

50-65 mph. Because of their energy-efficient and aerodynamic designs, Electrathon vehicle

power trains often consume less than one kilowatt/hour of total electricity for the entire race.

There are three sanctioned racing divisions within the Electrathon America organization- .High

School., .College. and .Open. divisions.

Most of the initial volunteer organizational work to establish Electrathon America was begun in

California and enjoyed widespread success during the late 1990s. However, several different

educational efforts then spun off from the Electrathon America-sanctioned .High School. and

.College. divisions, forming separate splinter groups that created their own specific construction

rules and racing circuits to promote the needs of their local educational regions. While many

regional efforts were successful in educating the next generation of EV designers, .Open. division

racing by hobbyists and non-educational competitors declined as the number of national

Electrathon America-sanctioned events diminished.

Electrathon America recently relocated its organizational headquarters to Oregon. The national

group is hoping to revive interest in low-cost, efficient EV racing for the general public as

alternative fuel transportation once again regains popularity to offset rising gasoline prices and

U.S. reliance on imported crude oil.

During World of Speed, the USFRA allowed rule modifications to enable Electrathon racers to

compete over a one-mile track and showcase their fastest vehicle designs for speed and

performance instead of range. The Electrathon vehicles were still limited to 67 pounds of sealed

lead acid batteries. However, the World of Speed competition encouraged upgrades to motor

horsepower and to higher electrical current draw from the batteries through the motor speed

controller to see just how fast these vehicles could travel.

Kirk Swaney and Shane Harris both brought their three-wheel Electrathon vehicles and support

teams to the Bonneville Salt Flats, instituting the first Electrathon America-sanctioned Open

division racing competition .on the salt.. The competition was close, pitting two teams from

opposite poles of the design spectrum against each other. The competition truly showed the wide

array of design choices available to the Electrathon racing program, represented by two wellmade

vehicles.

Kirk.s red and black T-555 Electrathon racer placed first against Shane.s green and black T-105

racer, driven by high school student and co-designer Daniel Diaz. The T-555 .set the bar. at

89.4 mph with a .come from behind. victory over the other team.s 86-mph time. However, Shane

and Daniel.s T-105 racer was only able to safely complete during two runs due to a faulty shutoff

switch that caused a spinout and damage to the vehicle frame after the first run. Driver Daniel

Diaz felt that the T-105 vehicle reached peak speeds of 90 mph on the track but was actually

slowing down when it entered the .speed trap. that recorded the timed trial run of 86 mph. Both

racing teams felt that 100-mph record times will be achievable by Electrathon racers, possibly as

soon as next year.

Kirk Swaney became involved with Electrathon competitions while leading a CAD drafting group

at Hewlett-Packard Corporation (HP) in Corvalis, Oregon. HP provided funding and sponsorship

to his team of co-workers to create their own vehicle to race under Electrathon America rules in

1996. Since that time, Kirk has become active in the organization and even started his own

His T-555 red and black Electrathon racer utilized 18 Enersys. batteries to create a 36-volt

battery pack weighing 66 lbs. that drove a 6-hp (continuous) Etek. electric motor with the aid of

a Curtis. 750-amp motor speed controller. The vehicle was constructed to be very low to the

ground but also lightweight, using a two-layer carbon fiber shell that was reinforced with balsa

wood in its center. The total vehicle weight was 177 lbs. Kirk reached 89.4 mph on the best of

five runs, the maximum number of attempts allowed during the competition. A chronicle of his

racing configuration choices for gearing of his chain drive system after each run, with each

resulting time slip record is shown at the .World Record. web link on his web site at:

http://www.destinyparts.com/Bonneville_2007.html

His record-setting third run was recorded by a camera mounted to the top of the Electrathon

vehicle canopy as well as sideline videos taken by fellow Electrathon builder, Shane Harris, from

Shane Harris hails from Walla Walla, Washington where he is a realtor by day but an artist,

sculptor, teacher, bicycle frame designer, and Electrathon builder during much of his spare time.

His green and black T-105 Electrathon racer finished a close second to Kirk.s record-setting run

with a best time of 86 mph using a 48-volt pack of Odyssey. batteries from Batteries Plus in

Kennewick, Washington, that weighed just 58 lbs. This battery pack drove an 8-hp (continuous)

Etek. motor with the aid of an Alltrax. motor speed controller. The total weight of the vehicle is

120 lbs. This unique racing platform was designed and constructed as an integrated monocoquebody,

using composite materials consisting of a Kevlar bi-weave with aluminum/steel

reinforcement. A Lexan windshield was built into the vehicle. Supplemental parts were

purchased from Napa Auto Parts in Walla Walla, Washington.

Shane.s approach to Electrathon racing originated from his interest in designing and building

human-powered transportation, including recumbent bicycles and hand-powered bicycles for

paraplegics. He taught as a volunteer in a local high school.s Industrial Arts class in Ukiah,

Oregon where his students learned how to create their own custom bicycle designs. When his

students visited Portland International Raceway during a human-powered racing competition,

their events were scheduled at the same time as local Electrathon racing competitions. Shane

saw the opportunity of the Electrathon program to integrate what his class was learning in

mechanical engineering/aerodynamic design and take it to a higher level by including electrical

and electronics design into the vehicle platform.

As a bicycle racer, himself, Shane had personally tested his own bicycle designs during land

speed racing competitions with the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA)

that stages annual human-powered races near the town of Battle Mountain, Nevada:

http://www.ihpva.org/IHPVA/ihpvarules.html

The races are usually held on a stretch of Highway 305 that is blocked off for the event. It is

located 14 miles south of Battle Mountain, Nevada, near Highway 80. The location of Battle

Mountain is 219 miles northeast of Reno, Nevada and 310 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Racers with human-powered designs are now exceeding 80-mph land speed records.

Shane cited the inspiration for his approach to aerodynamic design from conversations he

enjoyed with Georgi Georgiev, a world-renowned sculptor from Bulgaria who has established a

lifetime of achievement designing and building human-powered transportation platforms. His

vehicles include the VARNA human-powered bicycle that first broke the 80-mph record barrier in

2001. Mr. Georgiev was one of the first inductees into the HPVA.s Hall of Fame during the same

Shane Harris personally launched an Electrathon racing program as part of his students. high

school Industrial Arts class in Ukiah, Oregon during the late 1990s with an emphasis on

aerodynamic design and manufacturing using Kevlar composite materials. With industry support,

as well as his own sculpting and fabrication skills, Shane taught his students how to build molds

to create Kevlar composite canopies for the Electrathon racers as well as streamline their

designs. When Shane and his family moved to Walla Walla, Washington, Shane brought one of

the Electrathon vehicles with him in order to continue to help coach new student designers in that

town.s high schools, as well.

Daniel Diaz was one of these students and is now attending Walla Walla Community College

during the fall 2007 academic year. Shane presented ownership of the green and black T-105

Electrathon vehicle to Daniel to be used as an educational platform for his future studies in EV

design.

David Dymaxion, an EV builder and Bonneville Salt Flats racer, also took pictures of the

Electrathon vehicles at World of Speed 2007, documenting them at:

http://www.explodingdinosaurs.com/saltflats/2007worldofspeed

The USFRA.s World of Speed 2007 racing classes included several fun, novelty racing events,

According to USFRA rules, a motorized bar stool must be built around a real bar stool and is

limited to one 12-volt battery as its power source driving an electric motor on wheels that have a

maximum height of 10 inches. There are two classes of competition-- the .Lakester. class and

the .Streamliner. class.