- May 24, 2017
Punch Powertrain, Evodays (European E-mobility event, organized for the first time in Hasselt, Belgium) and Punch Powertrain Solar team celebrated their cooperation at The Punch Evodays Electric Playground. The event took place on the test track of Punch Powertrain – on the landing strip of Brustem airport – and featured the most prominent vehicles of the partners in presence of their special guests.
As structural partner of both 2 entities, Punch Powertrain wants to support positive initiatives that lead to development of green technologies and peak enthusiasm of students for the underpopulated technical fields of studies.
Special guests
As this electric supercar event was about cooperation and bringing together the ambassadors of electric driving, it gathered some prominent participants. Didier de Radiguès – a Moto GP legend and record holder of fastest electric lap in Spa – has not only attended, but kindly accepted the invitation to race the E-trike to its victory against BMW i8.
Also Frank Manders – a promoter of alternative energy and organizer of 80 Day race – has joined the celebration. Next to the Advanced Development team from Punch Powertrain, also Inmotion has attended the event with their entire team, including their new female racing driver Beitske Visser.
Special vehicles
Formulino Electric
Formulino Electric is a Junior Electrical Single Seater released earlier this year on Geneva Motor Show 2017. The vehicle is created by a consortium of Punch Powertrain, Dallara, Prospeed Engineering, ACT and HERONsports and seeks to provide an affordable racing vehicle in a new class of electric racing.
The vehicle features a unique integrated concept with a switched reluctance machine EP2 by Punch Powertrain operating at 660V. The current version delivers up to 120kW while next versions could deliver over 200kW within the same package. Combined with the low weight of just 600kg it offers quick acceleration and a top speed exceeding 200 kph.
More details can be found in the previously released article Formulino Electric in world premiere on EEVC in Geneva.
E-trike
The E-trike present at this event is a special model developed in cooperation with Rewaco trikes. Punch Powertrain is the supplier of CVT’s for the current production model and – having a good relationship – the companies have accepted the challenge of developing an electric model together. The vehicle features an electric powertrain by Punch Powertrain, fully integrated with the electric engine and battery pack.
Although such vehicles are commonly associated with an aggressive roar, the enormous force demonstrated in the race highlights the exciting merits of a silent electric engine.
Inmotion
The InMotion team was a special guest of Evodays, as they will also be present at the Evodays event. InMotion is a vehicle by the Technical University of Eindhoven that aims to become the fastest vehicle on 24 H of Lemans. For this event they have brought the full electric version of their vehicle: InMotion IM/e.
Furthermore, Evodays have brought the BMW i3 – which is the ambassador car of the event – and the BMW i8.
Races
- Formulino E (Punch Powertrain advanced development team member) – i8 ( Beth Giorgiou – organizer Evodays)
- E-trike (Punch Powertrain advanced development team member) – i3 (Dieter Vanswijgenhoven – organizer Evodays)
- E-trike (Didier de Radiguès – Moto GP record holder) – i3 (Beth Giorgiou – organizer Evodays)
The races were followed by a parade lap: all vehicles have joined in a non-competitive ride to showcase their cooperation.