British electric car struggles to fire up

WEST WENDOVER, Nev. — Tormented by a technical glitch and facing uncertain weather, a British team will try for a third time today to break the speed record for electric-powered vehicles. It could be the team's final opportunity before it packs up for England.

Crews had to scrub a run on a state highway early Friday after blaming the cold, damp Nevada desert for causing an arcing flame to issue from the car's nose cone. The culprit was a controller that sends power to the motors.

"It's an electrical gremlin," said Colin Fallows, 54, a retired Royal Air Force propulsion technician, bending over to inspect the low-slung "emotion" car.

Driver Mark Newby, 46, walked away in disbelief as his second attempt to run was foiled.

"This car has proven to be durable and reliable. It made 15 runs in the U.K. perfectly. And just now, these minor glitches are surfacing," he said.

With a forecast calling for days of rain, Newby said he could drive on damp, but not wet, pavement, which could send his car skidding out of control at the speed he hopes to achieve, more than 300 mph. "My No. 1 priority is to get home in one piece," he said.

Newby was hoping for a break in the weather early today. It could be his last opportunity to commandeer a state highway, although his team was negotiating for an extra day.

Trying to stay upbeat despite nagging technical problems, Newby said, "These things happen. You look at NASA — the billions they spend and the challenges they still face."

The team is trying to eclipse the record for an electric car weighing more than 2,200 pounds by using a vehicle with 52 batteries and no mechanical gears. Newby was ready to make a second attempt before dawn Friday on a 7.2-mile straight and flat section of the highway 38 miles south of West Wendover, Nev.

But the dew-covered car kept shorting out when the power was turned on.

"I suspect it has something to do with the moisture," said Steve Ruddell, a senior vice president for emotion sponsor ABB, a Swiss company with 103,000 employees that's known as the General Electric of Europe.

ABB supplied a pair of industrial motors for the car that can be overworked for brief intervals to turnintervals turn out 500 horsepower — as much power as a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette with a 7-liter, V8 engine. But getting power to those motors is proving troublesome.