PERRINN: The future enters the track

Electricity at the service of performance

In essence, project 424 consists of developing and then building a 100% electric prototype named 424 in order to take part in the world’s biggest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, within 5 years.

Before this deadline, the roadmap involves setting a new lap record on the most demanding circuit on the planet: the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. As a reminder, the current best time is 5 minutes 19 seconds and 546 milliseconds. It is held by the Porsche 919 Evo, a prototype optimized for this challenge and based on the 919 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times between 2015 and 2017.

An ambitious project matured over a long period of time.

The 424 project was born from the determination of a man, Nicolas Perrin. Engineer in Formula 1, Formula E, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he wishes to put his skills at the service of the long-standing goal he set for himself. “I started my career in Le Mans in 2003, in Yves Courage’s team. I fell in love with this race, with the challenge that the 24 hours represent. I then worked in F1 at Williams with the ambition of returning to Le Mans one day and winning the race with my own car. That’s why I left Formula 1 and founded PERRINN in 2011,” he confides.

424 thus benefits from over 10 years of development. Initially, it was a hybrid LMP1 prototype intended for private teams. Unfortunately, the limited budget of the interested teams did not allow the car to see the light of day. The market has changed drastically and now, only large manufacturers can finance the development of such cars, he admits.

Despite everything, these few unexpected events did not undermine his motivation. It is with a 100% electric 424 and an unprecedented approach that the team now aims to break records. He continues: “It was going to become really complicated to develop my company in this way. It was time to adapt my approach. I then thought about the concept of an open-source team using the internet and digital tools as infrastructure, thus replacing traditional factories, offices, and test benches. I shared this with the media in 2014, and the interest shown by the public was immediate.”

More than a prototype: a philosophy

This team, it can be yours. Indeed, beyond the design of a vehicle that gives pride of place to new technologies, PERRINN aims to be faithful to a way of working and collaborating that is relatively unusual in the world of motor sports. All discussions and data related to the development of the car are visible to everyone. This is the purpose of PERRINN.com.

Concretely, anyone who wishes can connect to this website, register, make a contribution and use the integrated “chat” platform to exchange with members already involved in the project: « PERRINN.com is an open platform where everyone can register. It is an essential communication tool built as a social network to allow all our members to interact, collaborate within the framework of project 424 and to follow our progress from the inside. […] We welcome new members, investors and contributors regularly as our team grows. »

In order to fully enjoy the experience offered, you will however need to acquire COINS, a kind of virtual currency or “Cryptocurrency” specific to PERRINN.com. These can be purchased or obtained in exchange for work done in the interest of the project. Nicolas details the subtleties of the community’s operation: « As our project is open source with only a small amount of capital available, we cannot hire and pay our contributors. But we offer them COINS and when the project receives new investments, we will allow all our members to exchange their COINS for money at the same time. […] We also have investors who are members with a certain amount of COINS that increase just like in a traditional investment. […] Or you can join the team as a simple member and enjoy the pleasure of being part of the community without working directly on the project. »

Battery or fuel cell?

At a time when Peugeot and Ferrari’s hybrid Hypercars are getting ready to take their first laps in preparation to compete for victory at the Sarthe circuit’s 24-hour race, the entry of a 100% electric prototype into the race seems quite utopian. However, Mission H24 proves that the technological progress made in recent years in terms of performance, weight, refueling time, and range make this prospect more than credible and ultimately not so distant.

Studying the respective technical specifications of the 2 cars that are H24 and 424, we can still note a significant difference in size. While H24 uses a fuel cell and hydrogen tank to store its energy and achieve a range that is essentially identical to that of its thermal counterparts, 424 relies solely on a lithium-ion battery, drastically limiting its range. Our guest today gives us the reasons that led to adopting this technical solution: « For an electric hypercar like 424, the battery is the best way to provide a lot of power for a limited duration, such as a lap of the Nürburgring. The battery has a power and energy density superior to all other storage solutions. This allows for a lighter car for a record attempt […] which is what we are currently focusing on. »

Nevertheless, the door is not closed to a shift towards hydrogen: “The issue with batteries is that the charging time is high. […] For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we may have to use a fuel cell instead of a battery as this solution allows for faster recharging during pit stops. [However], the charging time of battery cells is becoming increasingly lower so in 5 years, a battery could work for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well. The future will tell us. […] Technology is evolving rapidly in the industry,” he concludes.

From virtual to real.

No 424 prototype has been built yet and a new chapter in its development begins as it now needs to be adapted to electric propulsion. As is the case for most current race cars, this development phase involves the use of computer-aided design, modeling, and simulation software: « We exclusively use cloud-based software to develop 424 and collaborate. […] All PERRINN members have read and write access to our shared documents. […] The timing is perfect as more and more tools of this kind are becoming available at a reasonable cost or for free. Our data is open source so sharing everything online is not an issue. This opens the door for us to new tools that only universities are currently using. »

Members of PERRINN still managed to put 424 on track before its development was completed. They created a driving simulation from scratch. On the menu: a car, 424, and a track, the Nordschleife. « It is a tool for driving and engineering. We use it to train our drivers, develop the car and optimize the settings for the Nürburgring. It is also a great tool to showcase the project. Anyone with a computer at home can download the simulation and drive 424 on the Nürburgring. It’s fun and very useful for us. »

The future success of this virtual parenthesis must attract strong partners who will be involved in the development, manufacturing and even the operation of these prototypes designed to break records, this time in the real world. We are already collaborating with software companies such as Onshape to provide design tools. We have also established a partnership with Segula, a large engineering company, on the development of the battery cooling system. A young Segula engineer is dedicated to the project each year. We intend to continue finding new partners for 424. The open-source aspect of our approach is really a strength for them as they can reuse our data to communicate and train, details Nicolas.

PERRINN wishes to breathe new life into the very closed world of motor sports: « At the moment, things are going extremely well. […] For me, it’s fascinating to see new contributors working on the project. […] I am eager for new people to join the PERRINN team and our adventure. It’s going to be great fun. » Which will delight all enthusiasts.