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Le Mans: An electric car to compete in the famed endurance race?

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Khatir Soltani
Car manufacturers Audi and Peugeot compete with great success in the Le Mans 24 Hours famed event with stunning turbo diesel race cars. But the next step in green technology would be to enter fully electric cars.


GreenGT – a Switzerland-based firm involved in car design - could be the first to the Le Mans grid with an electric race car.

Penned by ISD Valencienne design student Thomas Clavet, the GreenGT Le Mans Prototype design study seeks to revolutionize the face of motorsport with an FIA-certified electric vehicle made of a carbon fibre chassis and a fibreglass body.

In theory, pair of 100 kW water-cooled electric motors is mated to a proprietary gearbox, sending a prodigious amount of torque to the rear wheel.

According to the GreenGT, the closed-cockpit race car will deliver between 400 and 450 bhp and an astonishing 2000 Nm of torque up to 160 km-h, then reduced to 800 Nm to aid high-speed traction.

Engineers have run a computer study of possible performance figures. It shows that the 860 kilos car would reach 100 km-h in less than four seconds and on to a top speed of 275 km-h.

At this point in time the GreenGT is just a static prototype, but if need be and if funds permit, GreenGT could get this eco-racer up and running in time to run in the 2011 24 Hours of LeMans race and even possibly transition it into a road-going electric super car shortly after.



photo:GreenGT
Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 8 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada