Baldos II on the starting line of SEM2010
So, it happened again. Just before the fifth artificial stop during yesterday’s measurement, Baldos II broke down. Luckily the energy in the double-layer capacitor was enough for Erika to drive it to the paddock on her own.
As described, the ICE on the vehicle is merely used to recharge a battery (a double-layer capacitor to be specific). Whenever the energy level in the battery drops beneath a certain value, the ICE kicks in and recharges it. The ICE in Baldos II typically runs for 5-7 seconds, then turns off and the vehicle is driven silently on the electrical motor for 30-60 seconds, then the ICE ignites again etc.
Baldos II during the first measurement
During the race Erika discovered how the ICE intervals increased from 5-7 seconds to 10, then 13, 16. This is a sign that the engine is running with low efficiency – it takes longer and longer for it to produce the same amount of energy in the battery. Erika also noticed how the engine behaved unusually irregular. This escalated until just before the artificial stop (a short stop in the middle of the track to resemble e.g. a red light) on the fifth lap, as the ICE kicked in and just kept running. At this point Erika realized it would be impossible to finish the race, so she turned the automatic engine control off and carefully rolled over the finish line.
Once again the letters DNF – did not finish – appeared in our result sheet. Something we’d hoped never to experience this year.
A rain covered Eurospeedway Lausitz
It is a part of human nature to immediately start generating theories for what happened. Jonas thinks it was all because of deformations on the crankshaft, which in turn drove the pistons towards the cylinder walls. This would not be the first time that happens – the crankshaft for this engine type is quite weak (despite being made of titanium). Fredrik blames it all on mistakes in the ignition module; especially on higher rpms. Erika thinks it has to do with the temperament of Baldos II; he’s just not up for races. Trying to satisfy as many of these theories as possible, we continued working on the vehicles during the evening and the night.
Older model mechanical drivetrain in Baldos II
During the night the winds increased and the expected rain reached us. There was kind of a commotion on the campsite as people from other teams tried to improve their multi-colored plastic shelters to keep everything from getting soaked. Team Baldos, on the other hand, slept comfortable in their rain-proof Tentipi tents.
This morning the weather gone worse and the safety responsible decided to postpone today’s races. There was thought to be a chance for some clear weather in the afternoon, but later on it was announced that there would be no races today. Tomorrow, on the other hand, we would start off early.
Dr. Matthias Bichsel inspecting Baldos II
This has given us some extra time to fix everything up. Apart from continuing the improvements from last night we’ve also cleaned up the whole paddock and allowed for those with the worst sleeping statistics to get some rest.
We’ve also been practically invaded by visitors who’ve heard about Baldos II and wished to see it with their own eyes. Some of them were journalists from e.g. France (TV: TF1) , Germany (TV: N24), Bulgaria, Ukraine, Holland, and Sweden. We’ve participated in a live TV webcast, and tomorrow we’re one of four teams chosen to give our views in a formal debate about future energy efficiency. We’re also glad to announce that Dr. Matthias Bichsel, member of the executive committee of Royal Dutch Shell, joined the prominent group of people who’ve tried out the ergonomics in Baldos II.
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