No Electric/Hybrid Vehicles on Track (Summit Point) as of March 30, 2023
 

Summit Point has just announced that Electric/Hybrid vehicles will not be allowed on track, including DEs and Autocross or any on track including Parade/Charity laps at this time, and IMHO quite rightly. The infrastructure is not there to deal with an impact or car catching fire on track. Time spent on dousing, clean up and quarantine would likely be hours shutting down everything for a long time.
We are putting the question to other tracks that PCA Potomac go to and await responses, but so far only S.P. has restricted them (Even though they put a bunch of charging stations in)
Dirk

Someone is signed up for VIR with a Tesla 3 Performance.

Language of the notification from Summit for those inquiring minds (dated 3/30/23):

ATTENTION EVENT ORGANIZERS



Our commitment to the safety of participants, clients, spectators, and employees at Summit Point Motorsports Park is an ongoing process. Best practices are continually scrutinized and revised.



Upon review of SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) document J2990 and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) document 70 and in consideration of the requirements specifically requested by event organizers we have halted the use of Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicles

in all motorsports disciplines.



This decision was not taken lightly, and we endeavor to better understand, support, and develop policies to meet industry best practices for emergency support and response requirements related to Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

I'll be devil's advocate here.

I understand there's a concern about being able to extinguish a Li-ion battery fire. But to balance that a little bit:

1. Pure EVs have car fires at about 1/60th the frequency that ICE vehicles do (source)
(admittedly, the same source says Hybrid vehicles have fires about twice as often as ICE vehicles)

2. As a society, we depend upon emergency services for protection from a lot of rare events. Nobody is putting forth a serious argument that EVs are too dangerous for public roads. So essentially we're saying that Jefferson County, WV is prepared to deal with an EV car fire right up to the gate of the Motorsport Park, but would be incapable of dealing with one inside the facility? Or to put it more absurdly, JeffCo Fire Department can handle ICE vehicle fires anywhere in the county but can only handle EV fires outside the gates of the track?

It feels a little reactionary to me -- not so scientific.

Guess I'll have to track my 918 somewhere else... :lol:

Dirk's post was to inform people hybrids/ electric vehicles are no longer allowed on-track at SP as of yesterday.

It is NOT intended to spark debate, etc.

And please note information/ updates are still coming in from other tracks, and there may be some aftermarket work needed to able able to drive at VIR.

But for now, this is strictly info for Summit Point.

While fire is a concern, the other issue could simply be occupants trapped in a vehicle that has had an accident. Perhaps SP doesn't have the training, or equipment, to handle those situations where learning how to discharge the battery could lead to more occupant/safety officials getting harmed before they could be rescued?

Again. Speculation as to the why..

the fact is the track had made a policy change.. no different than not allowing convertibles without full rollbars.. or other conditions (like in 15 years when they ban ICE cars on track ;) Its THEIR track.. and their insurance premiums ;) so its their rules.

EV fire outside the gate does not effect track operations.
EV fire on track shuts down operations for a long time. impacting many customers.

SP does not have the response capacity to deal with battery fire.

risk = probability x impact
while EV fire probability may be low, the impact is huge....making the risk high.

SP is just mitigating risk to itself, personnel on site, and the client organizations.

Atlanta Motorsports Park seems to be equipped to handle EV's on the track. They're even hosting an EV race series.

https://www.atlantamotorsportspark.c...rformance-evs/

Obviously, it is coming, my concern on the organizers point is that the clean up at best is going to take hours losing time from the "clients" time on track. Sure, I have seen track clean ups from impacts and oil/coolant spills shut down track time for more than an hour, but this at best if a runaway fire could take way over several hours talking many thousands of gallons on water and still guaranteeing the area till the wreck can be removed.
Dirk