Hello Motor(s)

It’s a bit odd trying to constantly remind myself that we’re putting together this hot street/race car, with tasty hot rod stuff like a custom narrowed back axle, roll cage and dropped stance. And yet…

…it will never have pistons. Or exhausts. Or valves. Or a distributor. Or a carb/injection. Or radiator. In fact, the core components of electric cars amount to very little.

The way you have to train your brain is to imagine that the motor is the engine, while the batteries are the fuel. So here, then, is the Flux Capacitor’s new ‘engine’.

Fresh off the pallet from Olly Young at Current Racing (www.currentracing.co.uk), this is known as a twin 9-inch set-up. A pair of 9-inch diameter motors, with one connecting the other via an input shaft. The motor mounted closest to the back of the car will then have a small universal joint bolted to it, which connects to an even tinier prop shaft.

Total cost of these two 9-inch race prepped leccy motors, together with their Helwig carbon split brushes and silicone insulation? £4440. They are DC series motors, modified to cope with 2000 amps at 170v with a maximum revvage of 5500rpm.

The decision for this motor came about through a combination of tried/tested knowledge and cost – the latter getting quite horrific when you realise that I could have easily spent £24,000 on the very latest liquid cooled motor.As you know the Enfield isn’t long, and because the chassis has been adapted to carry this twin motor set-up, the prop will be positively minute. As per the original, the Enfield will be direct drive, so no gearbox to faff about with. When the throttle is pressed, the motors will shove torque straight into the axle, hence why said axle has been built to cope with 1000lbft of twist.

Granted, they might not look as sexy as a supercharged V8, but they should be as quick. A part of me hopes that in a few years EV motorsport will be well respected enough for blokes to point at leccy bits like this and grunt with appreciation. If you squint, you might see the AA battery we’ve put in the photos to show a sense of scale…

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