SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM; ELECTRIC RACING GAINS POPULARITY.(NEWS)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

SHAWN WAGGONER ORGANIZED the Fourth Annual Battery Beach Burnout in Jupiter, Fla., and despite what you might infer from the event's name, racing was involved.

"I grew up in Daytona Beach in the shadow of the Speedway, so racing has been in my blood forever, he said.

The event, the Southeast's largest annual gathering of electric-car enthusiasts, is targeted at Ed Begley Jr. types, many wearing "Who Killed the Electric Car? T-shirts. But amid the plug-in Toyota Priuses and electric scooters, there were some odd-looking vehicles that competed in a one-hour "endurance race.

This year marked the Beach Burnout debut of Electrathon racing, and it was . . . quiet. Unless the sound of a ceiling fan bothers you, there is no need for ear plugs.

Electrathon vehicles are built either from a kit or from scratch. You have three or four wheels, sealed batteries that weigh less than 65 pounds total, one driver and one electric motor. Some teams embrace complex aerodynamic packages, usually made of aluminum, while others trade aero for less weight. Drivers must weigh 180 pounds, or the car has to carry ballast to make up for thinner drivers. If you weigh more than 180 pounds, forget it.

The track is either a road course or, as at Battery Beach, a quarter-mile rectangle defined by orange cones in a parking lot. Whoever covers the most laps in an hour wins. No recharging is allowed.