MrWizzard455 - Sorry nobody answered your questions back in June. I missed that posting somehow and apparently Electrathon did too. I can answer your questions, though.

Although there are some that are different, most of the cars run on 24 volts. We are limited to 73 pounds of batteries or two batteries off the approved list, regardless of weight. They must be gel-cell or AGM (sealed lead-acid) batteries. The most common setup right now is a pair of Optima AGM batteries (yellow or red topped) wired in series for a total of 24 volts.

An Electrathon race is a timed event. We run for one hour and the car that completes the most laps in that hour is the winner. We are required to carry at least 180 pounds of "payload" (That is the driver's weight, plus ballast if necessary, to equal a minimum of 180 pounds). So, with a minimum required weight and limited battery power, the challenge is to get the car to run for an entire hour while outrunning the competition.

Cars that utilize the batteries described above run in the "standard" class. That is the most common configuration. If a car owner opts to use NiCad, Lithium, or some other type battery besides the above mentioned gel-cells or AGMs, that puts them in the "advanced battery" class. Although the cars all run on the track together, the different battery classes are not competing with each other. Like a sports-car race, different classes are scored separately.