From Deseret News archives:

Electric-car driver sets sights on 136 mph

Published: Monday, Sept. 3, 2007 12:30 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
On the Bonneville Salt Flats, around the middle of this month, a 20-year-old man from Washington Terrace, Weber County, will climb into his dragster, switch on the motor, and whisper off in his quest to set a new world land speed record, 136 miles per hour.

The record would be for the fastest electric car, which is why the gleaming white salt will not reflect the staccato roar of a big gasoline engine.

"I'll be going for the electric vehicle under 1,100-pound category," Brent Singleton noted in a telephone interview Sunday.

Readers of Utah Scientific may remember Singleton from a March 2002 feature. At that time, the student at T.H. Bell Junior High, Washington Terrace, was anxious to race a 1992 electric car that had once belonged to Weber State University, and he also was working to save the Salt Flats.

Since then, he has continued his crusade to protect the renowned stretch of salt, winning Environmental Protection Agency Awards. He was congratulated by President Bush for his efforts, and is active in alternative fuel projects. He has become the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association's alternative fuel event coordinator.

And he and his dad, Kent Singleton, have built an electric dragster. They put together the original vehicle when Brent was 12, and it was petroleum-powered. In 2004, "we converted it to be an electric experimental Salt Flat racer," Kent Singleton said.

Story continues below
The flats are a fine place race alternative-fuel vehicles because they're safer than racing at a track with a wall, according to the younger Singleton.

But why the interest in racing alternative-fuel vehicles?

"You're proving that they can be fast," Singleton said. People are concerned about non-gasoline powered cars because they think they won't go fast. By racing them on the flats, the proof of their speed is in the record books. Granted, 135 mph isn't swift compared with the rockets that roar along the flats, but it's faster than people should go on the freeway.

"Racing throughout history has accelerated how fast we go from prototype to everyday drive," he added. "You're pushing this stuff to its limits. So when you find its limits, you break stuff, and you make it better."

People are comfortable with the speed and power of the gasoline engine "because we had a hundred years of making it better, and a lot of that came from racing."

Fossil fuel may be running out. It is responsible for most of the world's air pollution, and gasoline prices keep rising. Singleton thinks the future is with electric cars. "But where you're getting the power from is a problem," he said.

Recent comments

Be careful going that fast. Now can you run up to the store and go...

Patman3 | Sept. 10, 2007 at 2:30 p.m.

I'm guessing your "motorcycle batteries" might be Hawker AGM type,...

Bob Lemke | Sept. 10, 2007 at 12:40 p.m.

You rock, dude! Maybe your next one will beat the Buckeye Bullet!...

MarvyMarv | Sept. 9, 2007 at 12:58 p.m.

Image
Kent Singleton

Brent Singleton hopes to set a speed record for an electric car. His vehicle is powered by 12 motorcycle batteries, each roughly a quarter the size of a car battery.

previousnext

Latest comments

Letters: Liberal because LDS

In response to the 9:41 post: No where is it taught that an individual is...

Aggie 'D' holds BYU to season low

Not enough quick ball movement on offense. That is BYU's problem. They were...

re -- true conservative | 9:07 a.m ["Abortion should not be legalized,...

"The Utes can stop with their "holier than thou" attitude. It gets annoying."...

Aggies shoot past Cougars

The reason why YBU's home streak was so good is because everytime someone...

Letters: Liberal because LDS

My Grandmother was born and raised in Orderville, UT, where she practiced...

Thank you Jerry. We are lucky to have such a great coach. It will be sad to...

N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage

"I sincerely hope that we can learn to live with a situation in which gays...

Sloan gets 1-year extension

Who in their right mind would take Byron Scott over Jerry Sloan - what has...

Luke 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest...

Advertisements