A123Systems' Hypersonic Technology Propels Robert Wagoner's High-Performance Jets
 

Bill Dube first became interested in electric vehicles in 1994 when he raced in the Electrathon, an electric vehicle race. The next year, he built a high-performance electric street rod by converting a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible from gasoline to battery power, a vehicle he still drives today. Soon after, he decided to try drag racing and in less than a year he had converted a '77 Kawasaki KZ1000 frame into a world-class drag racing bike.

Seeking Improved Battery Power, Safety and Life
Dube' and the rest of the KillaCycle racing team including Steve Ciciora, Derek Barger and driver Scott Pollacheck originally set the mile drag record in August 2000 with a time of 9.450 seconds at 152.07 mph. Since 2000, they have broken their own record. With a quarter mile time of 8.76 seconds and a top speed of 145MPH. Not only did they break their previous record but also hold the world record for the quickest electric vehicle.

In November 2005, Dube' learned about A123Systems, developer of a new generation of Lithium-ion batteries. After reading about the battery's potential, he contacted the company to learn more and ultimately try them out to see if these batteries could deliver upon their promise of improved battery power, safety and life.

Testing It Out
The pack of A123Systems' Hypersonic battery technology that Dube uses consists of 990 Lithium-ion cells, configured to deliver 340 volts at up to 1300 amps. Weighing just under 150 pounds, the battery pack delivers about 350 horse power to the motorcycle drive package and holds 6 kW hours of energy.

Dube's bike previously was powered by 26 14-amp-hour motorcycle-starting batteries. Each battery weighed 11 pounds, but they put out 900 amps during a run down the strip. The weight of the KillaCycle with A123Systems' battery pack was now reduced down to 605 lbs. While the potential for reduced weight and increased horsepower was great, Dube needed to test the cells first to ensure that they worked as promised. He tested the cells extensively, even trying, unsuccessfully, to blow them up. Another major advantage he noticed was that every cell was consistent, unlike the previous batteries he had used.

"There are plenty of batteries that publish remarkable specifications, but, unfortunately, only a few actually do what is claimed," explained Dube. "I have evaluated batteries of all sorts from many manufacturers while looking for the hottest, most powerful batteries to put in the bike. I torture batteries on the bench to find out if they actually meet their specs and to find out just how far I can push them in the bike. A123 Systems cells actually exceeded the published specs!"

Along with the A123Systems' battery, the bike has a 2000 amp, 400 volt "Zilla 2K" controller built by Caf Electric. The frame is custom made from 4130 chrome-moly aircraft tubing. The rear sprocket is custom made from 7075-T6 aluminum and has 72 teeth. The bike, which has a 10 inch-wide rear tire and no transmission, uses about $0.06 worth of electricity for each run. It has twin 6.7 inch motors that are each rated at 23 HP, though Dubeê has souped them up, just a bit.

With the A123Systems battery back, The KillaCycle goes from 0 to 60 in just a touch under 1.5 seconds.

Breaking the Mile Drag Record ...Again and Again
On April 26th, 2006 during initial battery pack testing at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, KillaCycle broke the previous world record, setting a new official record of 9.156 @ 135 MPH. The fastest run was 9.024 but the slower of the two best runs becomes the official record.

On June 28th, 2006 Dube raced the bike again at Bandimere Speedway where they boosted up to 376 volts and 1200 amps. Driver Scott Pollacheck clocked the mile at 8.9 seconds. During this run the rear motor blew, preventing a second run of the KillaCycle to officially break the official record (two runs are required). Then on November 11th Dube's team with Driver Scotty Polacheck set a new official world record quarter mile run. With an official time of 8.76 seconds and 145MPH the KillaCycle is not only the fastest electric motorcycle, but is also the worlds quickest electric vehicle (Quickest is acceleration, not top speed) Bill is looking ahead to his next official attempt to beat the record.

"A123Systems' batteries are awesome. They are like 'Mr. Fusion' in Back to the Future. The more I work with them, the more impressed I become. Unreal amount of HP with a bottomless pit of energy," said Dube. "I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever which is amazing. I love these batteries and am looking forward to continuing to improve the performance of the KillaCycle with A123Systems' help."

Click to see the most recent KillaCycle times and speeds.

Click to learn more about Bill Dube' and his KillaCycle bike.

Robert Wagoner case study

The Search for Safety Back in 1998, Wagoner noticed the beginning of a real push toward electric power for jets. At the time, Wagoner was only using NiCd batteries. A few years later, lithium polymer batteries became the standard, but also brought along safety issues.

"Lithium polymer batteries are accidents waiting to happen and, unfortunately but not surprisingly, accidents do happen," said Wagoner. "For the past two years, lithium polymer batteries have pushed to their limit. Because of this, we were on a constant quest to find a better, safer and lighter power source for our jets and our customers."

In November 2005, Wagoner learned about A123Systems, developer of a new generation of Lithium-ion batteries. Hoping these batteries would address his needs, he contacted the company to learn more.

Running on Hypersonic Technology When Wagoner began testing the A123Systems' Hypersonic battery technology, he noticed many differences between this technology and the lithium polymer batteries. First, A123Systems' batteries could easily reach over 40-45 amps, even reaching up to 60 amps. Current battery technologies that can produce that amount of power do so at near failure, which is unacceptable for high-performance jets. Second, with A123Systems' battery, Wagoner is able to run at a high performance level at a lower temperature thus offering greatly improved safety.

The durability of A123Systems' batteries is also impressive to Wagoner. He has completed over 85 cycles with his Hypersonic^TM pack and has noticed very minor differences in performance. With Lithium polymer batteries, Wagoner would typically reach 20 to 30 cycles before the performance would significantly decrease.

When Wagoner took out his  Hypersonic^TM powered jet to a jet meet recently, he did not tell anyone about the new battery in advance. But the performance of the jet that day showed everyone that Wagoner was using a new type of battery.

"This jet flew much better than every other jet - no one could believe the performance. My jet accelerated right past the others because the delivery of power through A123Systems' technology is much more instant," explained Wagoner. "Flying the jet that day was the proof that A123Systems' power output was leaps and bounds over lithium polymer batteries. The jet just handles differently with this battery."

Wagoner was initially worried about the duration because A123Systems' battery offers 2.3 Ah while lithium polymers of similar size and weight offer 3.7 Ah. However, the hotter the lithium polymers got, the worse the capacity gets. Conversely, the A123Systems battery remained at the same temperature for a six minute flight, during which it easily reach 55 to 60 amps.

"With 2.3 amp hours you immediately think less duration but the lower temperature leads to a longer run time," said Wagoner. "I know it defies logic, but I have seen this first hand."

The Future of the High Performance Jet Market Wagoner plans to sell these batteries to his customers to help them reach new levels of high performance with a safer battery. His experience so far with this new technology has made him confident that the demand for these batteries will be substantial.

"A123Systems' batteries enable new growth in the high performance jet market," explained Wagoner. "The technology is so significant and important for the hobby market just for safety reasons alone and I believe it that will make a big impact in this industry."