According to a brief article in
Autocar, Bloodhound (
www.bloodhoundssc.com) — the British 1,000mph jet- and rocket-powered land-speed record challenger — is planning to convert at least one of its “most important functions” to electric power, if a suitable technical partner can be found.
Mark Chapman, the project’s technical director, says there is a plan to use a 600bhp electric motor to power Bloodhound’s fuel pump, which needs to deliver one tonne of peroxide catalyst to the Nammo rocket motors “in the 18sec it takes for a 1,000mph record run”.
Currently, the car has a supercharged Jaguar V8 engine to pump the rocket fuel, but Mr Chapman believes that electric power would provide much greater “packaging flexibility”.
He says a possible partner could be Chinese car company Geely (an existing Bloodhound sponsor), which owns the Swedish Volvo brand and recently announced a 600bhp electrified powertrain for its Polestar, which is described as “an electric car supported by a traditional internal-combustion engine”.
Mr Chapman said talks are proceeding.