GreenGT First Track Test

As we told you in mid May, somewhere in Switzerland a team of engineers are working on the development of they hope will be the first electric vehicle to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Since the car isn't due until 2011, little hope remained to hear anything about it anytime soon.

Well, wrong. The GreenGT crew is already testing the car. The first track test was done at the Paul Ricard HTT Track (High Tech Test Track) some five days ago, carplatform.com reported. The car was driven by endurance race car driver Christian Pescatori.

The GreenGT went actually through two test runs, coprising of 18 laps in one charge and 24 laps throughout the day. Being its first test, the car was not push to its limits. Pescatori did not exceed 100 km/h (62 mph), which meant the car was tested at only 30 percent of its capacity.

During the tests, GreenGT engineers looked at how the gearbox copes with the torque generated by the electric drive, how long the battery lasts and how electronics and safety equipment behave.

Overall, the car is said to get from a standstill to 100 in under 4 seconds and reach an estimated 275 km/hour (171 mph). It is powered by two lithium-ion battery packs developing 30kWh each, which power and engine that develops between 350hp and 400hp.

As they stated before, the goal of GreenGT is not only to compete in Le Mans. The car, if successful, may turn road worthy, but don't expect that to happen very soon. What to expect however is additional details, as GreenGT surely doesn't seem to waste any time.