1973 Battery Box Experimental Electric Streamliner

The Battery Box is a home-built, semi-streamlined car created to attack the World Speed Record for electric-powered vehicles. Using the latest technology in both motor/battery combinations and vehicle design, Roger Hedlund of Sunnyvale, CA, achieved his goal in 1974 at the Bonneville National Speed Trials. The car's speed for a two-way average over a measured mile was 174.918 mph. This record was held until 1997. The car's frame is a welded-steel tubing structure called a 'space frame.' No suspension is used so the tubular front axle is attached rigidly to the frame. Steering is by rack-and-pinion. The rear axle is also rigidly mounted but runs in ball-bearing braces (metal rings on which ball bearings rotate). Frame and axles are made of 'chrome moly' steel tubing. A 25-horsepower General Electric motor, of the type used in forklifts, is located under the driver's semi-reclining seat. The car was designed to use 32 12-volt batteries, hooked up in series, but the record run was made using 28 batteries. This still resulted in 336 volts available to turn the motor which was cooled by a fan from a car heater drawing fresh air through the motor housing.