Omexom is supporting a team of Dutch students that set their goal on entering the famous race with an electric car that can be recharged in two minutes: as fast as filling up a combustion-powered vehicle.
In a circuit race, refuelling time is a key element. The quicker the better, because time spent stationary in the pits is valuable racing time lost. This is true for a combustion-powered car and an electric car alike. And that’s where things get complicated!
Recharging a battery is time-consuming, and trying to make it as fast as filling a fuel tank represents a real challenge.
“Recharging an electric vehicle needs to be as easy as refuelling a car. When we achieve that equivalence, electric mobility will have become a reality”.
For an idea of the scale of this feat, it typically takes an hour to recharge an electric vehicle, while it only takes five seconds to refuel an F1 car.
Fifty students from Eindhoven University of Technology and Fontys University of Applied Science in the Netherlands decided to take up this challenge by entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 with a special race-prepared electric vehicle.
InMotion is a Team with a dream to create the most innovative racing car in the world. The students are using an innovative technology called Electric Refuelling, which should make recharging their electric vehicle as fast as refuelling a combustion-powered vehicle.
According to Paul Van Schijndel, manager of Omexom Dordrecht, which is supporting the operation, “To achieve this objective, the team needs to manage the design of the batterypack. ”.
The future of electric mobility
Explaining Omexom’s (VINCI Energies) involvement with InMotion and the Dutch students, Paul van Schijndel says the brand is “Invested in the energy transition and in building a sustainable future for all”.
“InMotion is also fully committed to this objective”, he adds. “It’s a logical partnership, because Omexom is keen to address the challenges of e-mobility and electrical infrastructure. Recharging an electric vehicle needs to be as easy as refuelling a car. When we achieve that equivalence, electric mobility will have become a reality”.
To demonstrate that their ultra-rapid charging technology has potential for use in a racing car, InMotion and the students will enter their vehicle in the Garage 56 Class, which every year welcomes a unique competitor looking to showcase technical innovations of interest to the industry.
This is not InMotion’s first foray into motor racing. The team previously developed the first Bio-ethanol racer in the Netherlands. With the next car “Fusion” the team raced on Dutch circuits to show where a team of young students are capable of. . And with its third creation “Vision”, InMotion is anticipating the future of electric mobility.
11/02/2021
