Based on data gained from last year’s record-breaking run of 10 minutes 15.380 seconds, engineers at TMG’s electric vehicle technology center have found ways to obtain more performance from the TMG powertrain.

Toyota said the TMG EV P002 is already the benchmark for electric race cars worldwide, having demonstrated true performance and versatility in establishing the current electric records at Pikes Peak and Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The car is currently on its way to Salisbury, N.C., where Toyota Racing Development U.S.A. Inc. (TRD USA) will perform aerodynamic upgrades to the Radical-based chassis as well as track testing.

It is on June 30 that Rod Millen will drive the TMG EV P002 at Pikes Peak.

As a multiple record-setter at Pikes Peak and regular competitor in Toyota racecars, the 61-year-old New Zealander is highly experienced and will benefit from various improvements to the high-tech racer.

Motor speed and torque have been increased while the powertrain’s operating parameters have been tuned to better suit the challenge of the 19.99 kilometer Pikes Peak track said Toyota, basing these claims on experience gained during last year’s class victory.

TMG support crew is expected by Toyota to further optimize the powertrain during the practice week prior to race day, while using experience gained from last year to assist their TRD USA colleagues in running the car.

Once again TMG is using its pioneering off-board battery-to-battery charging technology, including Schneider Electric EVlink DC Charger, to charge the TMG EV P002 from the mountainside, where there is no reliable connection to the power grid.

Mounted in the rear of a Toyota Hiace, the TMG DC Quick Charger includes a 42 kilowatt lithium-ion battery, which can be charged directly from the AC power grid.

After an overnight charge, the TMG DC Quick Charger is able to quickly deliver high levels of power to a battery-based electric car without additional installation or infrastructure.

With varying current and voltage output, Toyota  said the TMG DC Quick Charger becomes an independent source of power for rapid recharging in any location, making it the perfect solution for electric motorsport.

The post Electricity-Powered Pikes Peak Effort For Toyota appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The showdown in the Electric division will feature a pair of veteran drivers who have a combined scoreboard of 17 wins on America’s Mountain, New Zealander Rod Millen and Japan’s Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima.

Tajima, who will turn 63 two days before the race, will be again driving his Tajima Motors E-Runner, which was forced out of the race last year when Tajima developed a small fire aboard the electric vehicle.

The Japanese driver, a fixture in the event, has won the Unlimited division eight times, and was the first driver to crack the ten-minute mark when he clocked a 9:51.278 in winning the title in 2011. It was his sixth straight win in the Unlimited field.

Millen, 61, will be making his debut in the Electric division, driving the Toyota TMG EV P002 that won last year’s Electric title when it was piloted by Japan’s Fumio Nutahara.

Nutahara (Hokkaido Japan) will be back himself in an effort to defend his Electric title, but does not yet know which race car he will be driving. He established the all-time record in the Electric division last year with his time of 10:15.380 in a 2012 Toyota Motorsport vehicle.

Rod Millen has won nine titles on Pikes Peak, including five Unlimited crowns, the 2011 Time Attack 2WD crown, and other triumphs dating back to 1989 in Pikes Peak Open, Pikes Peak Production, and High Performance Showroom Stock divisions. Of those, only the Pikes Peak Open division is still on the card.

The loaded Electric field also includes the 2010 and 2011 champion, Japan’s Ikuo Hanawa, who will be behind the wheel of a Summit HER-02 vehicle.

Eleven new records were set last year at the second-oldest motor sports event in the USA behind the Indy 500, the first edition contested on the fully-paved 12.42 mile course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes on the summit at 14,110 feet, where the air is rare.

The event’s growing international prestige is again evident this year with entries from France, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium.

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