There is so much misinformation surrounding electric cars these days that you can be forgiven if you’re not exactly an EV enthusiast. After all, we all like speed here, and electric cars just seem so gosh darn slow, don’t they? And it’s true that cars like the all-electric Nissan Leaf aren’t exactly fast, and have a limited range of less than 100 miles under all but the most ideal conditions. But electric motors have an enormous performance potential, if you know what you’re doing.
Ron Adamowicz certainly knows what he is doing. Along with Scrivener Performance, Ron has built an all-electric 1981 Camaro that can complete the ¼ mile in just 10.08 seconds at 127.75 mph…though his goals are much more ambitious than that.
The Camaro, called the Warp Factor II, is sponsored by Team Haiyin, who makes the batteries that provide the power for Ron’s electric Camaro. Ron isn’t just the driver, but also President of the East Coast Electric Drag Racing Association. He has been a life-long drag racer, but was recently stung by the bug to do something different. That different is an all-electric Camaro, which uses two electric motors to provide up to 1,000 ft-lbs of torque at 0 RPM. Those are monster numbers that showcase the potential for performance in electric motors.
Unlike conventional gasoline engines, electric motors can deliver 100% torque right off the line, allowing Ron’s Camaro to rocket down the drag strip in silent glory. Though he only just started racing the electric Camaro this year, he is only half a second behind the current world record holding EV production-based drag car, the Black Currant VW Beetle. So say what you will about electric cars, just don’t act surprised when you get your butt whipped at the local drag strip by a quiet Camaro with killer power.