The Second ET #7009 Completes All Dynamic Tests

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Roger

…with no drama at all.  E-Tracer #7009 (or rather #79) did all the acceleration, emergency braking and the consumer union’s double lane change today and I have to bow my hat to Felix, he did all of the driving brilliantly. The acceleration 0-60 mph was done at little over half throttle in 6.3 seconds, the braking 60-0 was rock solid at around 150 ft, the lane change this time went smoothly without shaving off mirrors on cones, thank you…  Peter was relieved when his baby (he payed for #7009 already!) was safely back in the garage.  I caught some voices from some of the 50 or so onlookers from judges, guests and team members during the brake manouvre of the ET, where some drama was expected while seeing the only single track vehicle get into some deep sh.., screeching and weaving and probably falling over when the outriggers don’t come down…we did not do ’em the favor, sorry. So here’s what they said: “Unbelievable stopping power”…”straight as an arrow”…”not even hitting the ABS”…”how are they doing that?”…”that would have looked good on some of the wanna-be-sports-cars in the field”…thank you, thank you, thank you!

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The 2nd ET Completed Tech Inspection Successfully

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Roger

The second E-Tracer #7009 completed the technical inspection successfully today and will go through road testing tomorrow. We had some tense moments with the AC-Propulsion’s ground fault indication not reacting to the standard test routine. But the fabulous PIAXP tech team reacted with some great ideas and we finally sailed through.  Now it’s time for a beer!

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Tech Inspections Passed

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Roger

X-Prize Team E-Tracer: tech inpections passed, emergency double lane change manoeuvre passed at 48 mph, brake test passed at 150 ft from 60 mph, acceleration 0-60 mph passed at 6.5 sec (not with full throttle…;-)  These results are for vehicle # 7002. # 7009 will be tested tommorow. Cheers and keep your fingers crosed, we have got the competition covered so far…  -Roger

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First Day Technical Inspections

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Roger

After a nice and calm trip through parts of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, we arrived last night at the Super 8 Hotel near the track. We had some beers and good steaks nearby and went to bed early. Today, we have to show up at noon on the track where inscription processes and technical scrutineering is starting. 4 p.m. we’ll have to be ready for the grand opening photo session…

…and a nice side story: at a fuel station yesterday, a grandpa driving a pumped up 67 Chevy had a glimpse into the back of the trailer, asked if it was electric and then said: “yeah, that’s the future…!”

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Rigging up the Supertrailer

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Roger

Lufthansa Cargo handed out the two ET’s on Saturday morning after we had final clearance from the Customs and so in a couple of hours we’re going to hit the road with Jim Lorimer’s terrific 24′ trailer, all shiny and new, chrome and black truck up front pulling strong. there’s still no substitution for a big displacement V8…other then the even bigger displacement V10?

It’s about a 6 hour drive heading East from Chicago to Detroit and then South to MIS Michigan Intl Speedway in Brooklyn, MI.

I’ll get back in touch once we’re there…we can’t wait till it starts!

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Arrival in Chicago

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Roger

The team had a fantastic flight with SWISS from ZRH to ORD, the service was great and the nine hour flight felt only half as long…

We then got the full dose of Homeland Security…waited two hours in line at the Immigration…spent six hours getting the two vehicles through custom.  No accusations, everybody was friendly and helpful, but it sure was a test before the test…

Barry Willey of National Cycle then showed us around in his impressive motorcycle accessory business and later invited us to a really great restaurant, which made us forget the not very productive day spent with the bureaucrats…

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Cleaning up the Workshop

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Roger

After half a year of making a mess building the ET’s, it was pretty quiet at Peraves “skunk works” today.  The R&D workspaces have been cleaned up to make room for new stuff that will be tested this year in the production MonoTracer works mules. The Superball-Engine has been waiting for further development, too.  It’s the perfect engine for a Range Extender.  The Peraves Range Extender, short PRX, will be the answer to the car engineers dreams.  Its ultra compact size, lightweight and complete absence of vibrations will allow the designers large freedom in terms of packaging, the future magic word in hybrid-car-design…

And just before closing the shop, the new demonstrator for our german distributor, Gerold Hellwig, has arrived from the factory in Brno/CZ.  The guys have done a fantastic job once again, and the MonoTracer looks ultra sharp in the new Audi R8 Spyder color, teak brown opaque metallic with carbon sideblades. I wish it was mine…

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Loading X-Tracers onto the Plane

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Roger

Today, the two striking yellow/black ET’s were driven under their own steam to the airport, where we helped the ground handlers to secure them diagonally on a LD7-pallet each. The SWISS flight LX8 takes them to Chicago O’Hare airport, where we will pick them up on Thursday or if the customs are already closed on Friday morning. We will be spending two nights in Chicago, where Barry Willey from National Cycle will give us a tour of the factory and take us out for dinner.

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Welcome to the world of the Cabin Motorcycle

Posted on April 25, 2010 by Roger

This is the official blog of Peraves, the Swiss manufacturer of the MonoTracer® cabin motorcycle.  We are a contestant in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize competition as the X-Tracer Team Switzerland.  We’ve entered two all electric E-Tracer prototype vehicles called the X-Tracer #7002 (Powered by Brusa) and the X-Tracer #7009 (Powered by AC Propulsion). Follow us on our journey of maximum efficiency combined with maximum performance and fun!

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