We paid a visit to Llandow circuit to catch the action and the pit-lane chat of the country’s first electric car track day meet
Llandow circuit in South Wales at 9am. Cars start to trickle in. Owners gather around each other’s vehicles to chat. Some unload their car from a trailer. Some start to fit a spare set of wheels with track tyres. Others fiddle with the adjustable suspension to put it in its track setting. It’s a very common start to a track day at one of the UK’s motorsport venues. Except there are no engines to be warmed, no oil levels to be checked and no V8s coughing into life. In fact, the only noise these cars emit is a faint hum.
That’s because this is the UK’s first EV-only track day. It’s the brainchild of John Chambers, who runs Tevo Solutions, a business catering to suspension upgrades for Teslas. Few countries are as well catered for as the UK when it comes to track days, so you might imagine an EV-only track day wouldn’t be necessary but, according to Chambers, there are still lots of misconceptions. “Only a year and a half ago, only about 50% of tracks would allow EVs on in the first place, because they all were worried about fire and getting electrocuted if there was an accident,” he says.
“Another reason why I’ve organised this track day is that there’s this opinion that… EVs are just good at drag races because you see so many drag racing videos,” continues Chambers, adding that even owners aren’t aware of their cars’ potential.
Over the past few years, he’s gathered a small band of people who do track days in their Teslas, and some of those are in attendance at Llandow, but there’s a good mix of people and cars here, from diehards to those with a casual interest.
Aside from the Teslas, there are a couple of Porsche Taycans and Audi E-tron GTs here, as well as a few hopefuls in a Volkswagen ID 3 and e-Golf. Someone has even brought a converted first-generation Porsche Boxster.
Everyone piles into the briefing room. “Remember that there is always something to hit, so be careful,” Chambers warns. Wisely, a trio of driving instructors are on standby to guide some of the novices in getting their 400bhp saloons around the track in one piece. So far, so conventional, well- organised track day.
“We’re being pioneers here. It’s all about changing people’s minds,” he continues. “You’re going to have to plan your own charging strategy. Don’t leave it until you’re down to 5% charge to come in: you still need to be able to get to a charger, and besides, below 15% you’re not going to get full power, anyway.” You don’t get that at most track days.
Without doubt, charge is one of the biggest challenges in using an EV as a track car. The Teslas can do more laps than you might imagine: 50 laps of Llandow is not unrealistic. However, at lunchtime, you could be forgiven for thinking the event has ended, because most drivers disappear in search of some charge. The closest Superchargers are at Sarn services, about 25 minutes away. Non-Teslas have to travel even further to find a proper rapid charger. On-site charging was considered but is not viable because of the cost and logistics of bringing in battery packs. Meanwhile, installinga diesel generator would be rather questionable.
There are a few other issues with caning EVs on track, even at a relatively short, tight one like Llandow. The first car to falter is the e-Golf. The owner campaigns a Subaru Impreza Turbo rally car and runs the e-Golf as his daily driver so he thought it would be good fun to trailer it to the track. Unfortunately, the car’s first-generation battery cooling system calls it quits after just two laps, limiting power until it cools down again.
Read more: AUTOCAR
It’s Time to Go Green!
If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:
