"Current Eliminator II"

Electrified Motors Sports, of Laveen, Arizona is home of Dennis "Kilowatt" Berube's world record holding battery powered electric dragster, "Current Eliminator II." This world record is recognized (races were officiated and timed) by the largest drag racing sanctioning body, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). As far as we know, it is the quickest electric vehicle of ANY kind in the world. A world record in quarter-mile drag racing for an electric car was established by Dennis on (date), and reset a number of times by Dennis and his team. The standing record for elapsed time in the quarter mile is now 9.70 seconds @ 130 mph, on July 10th, 1999, breaking the 10 second barrier!!! WOW! Previous records include a 10.229 seconds @ 122.61 mph run at Bandimere Mile High Drags on May 22, 1999, a NEDRA event, and a 10.41 seconds @ 121.6 mph run on (late '98?), at Speedworld, northwest of Phoenix. Earlier in that year, March 7, 1998, he ran 10.86 seconds @ 110 mph at Firebird International Raceway, at the annual APS Electrics car races, during the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) exhibitions. Four of the quarter-mile passes by Dennis that day were run in under 11 seconds! (The car has been reconfigured since this page was first written and the description and pictures herein pertain to the earlier configuration. An update is forthcoming). Some recent pictures of the car can be seen from the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) web site at nedra.com. Here is one of them fetched from that site ...

"Current Eliminator II" has been exhibited at a number of electric vehicle events and races in the southwest, including the APS Electrics, a yearly event sponsored by Arizona Public Service corporation, a local power company, and others. The APS Electrics event draws competitors from across the United States as well as a number of international teams.

At a previous NEDRA event, the first Optima National Electric Drag Racing Championships, on August 30, '97, in Woodburn, Oregon, Dennis raced and BEAT a Dodge Viper (the quickest of three competiting Vipers), one that had been an actual INDY PACE CAR!

Dennis has a standing offer of $1000, to any electric vehicle that can beat him in a quarter-mile drag race. Although this offer has been advertised for more than four years, NONE have been able to claim this prize!

The Electrified Motor Sports team enjoys racing as often as they can, nearly every friday or saturday night, at Firebird International Raceway, in Chandler, Arizona, or at Speedworld, on the northwest side of the valley of the sun.

This rail type dragster is powered by 20 (± 5) Genesis automotive racing bateries, spinning a GE motor (manufactured for starting airplane jet engines) that drives the solid rear axle through a Harley-Davidson 4-speed tranny using a primary/secondary chain system.

The dragster batteries are charged using a gasoline powered Hobart welding machine, mounted inside the car's trailer, with various devices employed for managing the charge of each battery.

Dennis always drives the car at the track, beating many gasoline powered cars in the quarter mile. (Imagine the experience of having your gas powered car being beaten by an electric car). Of course there were some gas powered cars faster than us, but even they were impressed with our quick E.T.'s, wheelies, and tire screeching (the only sound heard) burnouts and launches.

At the track, the dragster is towed around by a hybrid support vehicle. The golf-cart is battery powered and contains a gasoline powered generator for charging itself and emergency charging of the dragster. There is also an air compressor onboard for pumping up tires.

The car has evolved somewhat from when these pictures were taken and now sports a clutchless drive with automatic shift and jolt dampening provided by state of the art integrated circuit controllers.