Welcome to Plasma Boy's EV Video Collection

See videos dating from 1984 to present of John's various EVs...from local TV news footage of the long range Red Beastie Toyota pickup, to national coverage of his snappy electric hotrod Datsun 1200 sedan Blue Meanie, to outrageous White Zombie tire ignition sequences, to the most recent 10 second Zombie 1/4 mile runs, it's all here.

2009 at PIR ...11.96 Run on lead acid batteries

2007 OPB Video 'Electric Drag Racing'

• 'Filmranch' version of the Mazda RX7 Rotary vs White Zombie (8-17-07) From my new friend Andreas Langley (Filmranch) who captured various racing action of the Plasma Boy Racing team at PIR. (Very Large File)

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• Turbocharged 3rd generation Mazda RX7 Rotary vs White Zombie (8-17-07) From the NEDRA Nationals 10th Anniversary races at PIR, this was the most exciting match-up of the night! Just as it is today with EVs challenging traditional muscle cars, Mazda's rotary engine powered cars were very controversial when they first showed up at the drag strip and started taking on and beating the muscle cars. Today though, it well known that these rotary rockets (as they are often called) are formidable machines. The precursor to this grudge match was the show-down burnouts that in a word, were awsome! Unfortunately, the videocam wasn't ready to catch the Mazda's rotary engine bouncing off it's rev limiter as it screamed loudly and absolutely blistered its fat meats, while at the same time, White Zombie melted its rear tires seemingly, forever! Both cars launched hard, it was a neck to neck run all the way down the strip, and they both flashed through the traps at 12 flat with the Zombie just edging out the Mazda with a 12.056 @ 109.09 mph vs the Mazda's 12.062 @ 109.54 mph! Afterwards, we had the opportunity to talk with the driver of the beautiful blue RX7 where we learned his car had blown off its turbo's high pressure outlet pipe on the 4th gear upshift. We all figured that had the Mazda not lost its turbo boost, it would have beat White Zombie, but when you watch this video you can hear that the 4th gear shift occured just after the reader boards lit up. (Very Large File)

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• BMW M3 Euro Hotrod vs White Zombie (6-29-07) From the 6-29-07 racing at PIR, this was the fourth run of the night trying the newly 15 degrees advanced timed Siamese 8 motor that resulted in the car's first venture into the 11s! This historic video has White Zombie pitted against a 350 hp BMW M3 road rocket. The video was shot by driver Tim Brehm's wife from her vantage point in the bleachers, where her 11 year old daughter was hanging with her four or five 11 year old girl friends celebrating her birthday weekend. You can hear the energetic girls chanting 'Zom-BEE - Zom-BEE - Zom-BEE!' just before the electric car leaves the Beemer in dust and disappears into the sunset as it runs an 11.948 @109.75 mph run! (Very Large File)

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• 455 cid Tempest vs White Zombie (6-29-07) From the 6-29-07 racing at PIR, this was the last run of the night trying the newly 15 degrees advanced timed Siamese 8 motor. White Zombie runs an 11.96 @110 mph against a '64 Pontiac Tempest 455 cid big block. (Large File)

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• Yellow Vette vs White Zombie (6-29-07) From the 6-29-07 racing at PIR, this was the first run of the night trying the newly 15 degrees advanced timed Siamese 8 motor. This fun video has an interview between Roger, the driver and owner of the Corvette, and the Wall Street Journal's John Fialka, right after being beat by an electric car. (Very Large File)

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• 1st Zombie vs Cop Car Drag Race (2-25-06) Plasma Boy goes heads up against a county sheriff in a Crown Vic V8 police car. It's not the best quality video, but it's still pretty fun to watch. The officer asked if he could have a head start. Look carefully and you can see Plasma Boy wave 'bye bye' as he blows past the cop! (Dial-up Friendly)

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• 2nd Zombie vs Cop Car Drag Race (2-25-06) Tim took the wheel with our buddy Jason as a passenger as they drag raced a cop car. The video isn't perfect, but it still captures the moment. The officer got the jump on Tim, as the Zombie's rear tires simply smoked. Tim let off the throttle, then stabbed it again only to re-ignite the tires. You can hear the tires still breaking traction through the first part of the run. Once the car hooked up, it ran away from the cop car with ease. (Large File)

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• Tim Brehm's Tire Meltdown! (2-25-06) Tim gets carried away with this over-the-top tire shredding event. After the smoke cleared, we found tire chunks all over the roof and hood of the car. Our good friend Deputy Sheriff Jason was manning the videocam. You can hear him chuckling as he says, "That's smokey!" (Large File)

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• Zombie Smoke & Cop Car (2-25-06) Plasma Boy Lights 'em up in front of a cop! From the Feb. 25th fun day at the race track with the Clark County Sheriff department. Kids, don't try this at home! (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Tim Brehm's Burnout (2-25-06) Tim gives the BF Goodrich drag radials a workout while being watched by cops in awe. (Large File)

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• Wheelstand Zombie Launch (10-22-05) This is the latest and last run of White Zombie for this closing racing season, a quick 12.245 @ 104.50 mph. It happened right at midnight on a Saturday night on a cold track as a solo run, so it was quiet and you can hear the electric motor spin up as well as the tires trying to get traction. Even with less than ideal track conditions, the Zombie achieved its best ever 60 ft. time, a scorching 1.591 seconds! The battery pack current limit was adjusted a bit higher at 1100 amps, with the controller set to 2000 amps in both the series and parallel motor configurations. Click on picture to view. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Refueling Blue Meanie ('97) Here's a fun clip from the video documentary 'Where the Rubber Meets the Road' Plasma Boy was part of. Plasma Boy takes a fun poke at folks who think it's a 'big deal' to simply plug-in an EV to recharge. Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie V8 Burnout (9-28-05) For those who still love the sound of a built V8, here's a fun clip that will have you laughing! There was a muscle car next to the Zombie doing a burnout at the same time we were. The timing is perfect and the way the video is shot, you can only see White Zombie as you swear it's got a V8 under the hood...turn up the volume! Click on picture to view. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• White Zombie 12.151 @106.25 mph PIR (9-28-05) This is White Zombie's newest world record run (class SC/A) when racing at PIR with Tim Brehm driving at the Wednesday night PIR bracket races. It's also the highest trap speed the car's hit to date. The car was configured at 348V of Hawker AeroBatteries batteries limited at 1000 amps, a Zilla Z2K motor controller outputting 1850 motor amps in the series motor mode, 2000 amps in the parallel motor mode, and the Siamese 8 dual armature electric racing motor. The Zombie was too quick to be in the Sportsman class and was instead, forced to race in the more powerful 'Pro' class mostly inhabited by 9-11 second machines. This was the final round, our 7th run for the night, where we finally got eliminated to take the 2nd place trophy and a small but meaningful chunk of prize money. The track was very sticky from all the rubber being laid down and the car got terrific launches. Pulling off a 12.151 ET, we didn't mind losing this final round. Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie 12.275 @104.78 mph PIR (9-28-05) Another quick White Zombie run when racing at PIR with Tim Brehm driving at the Wednesday night PIR bracket races. This was run #5, a solo run. Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie 12.424 @103.57 mph PIR (9-24-05) This is a quick White Zombie run when racing at PIR with Tim Brehm driving. 348V of Hawker AeroBatteries batteries set to deliver 1000 amps, a Zilla Z2K motor controller outputting 2000 motor amps, and the Siamese 8 dual armature electric racing motor delivered awesome power. The track anouncer's reaction to the run is probably the best part, but the wheel lifting launch is way cool, too. The 60 ft. time was a strong 1.646 that was followed by a super quick 7.76 1/8 mile. Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie 12.528 @104.55 mph PIR (9-24-05) This is White Zombie's 6th run of a strong racing night at PIR with Tim Brehm driving. The 348V Hawker AeroBatteries battery pack's current limit was set at 1000 amps. The Mitsubishi all wheel drive ricer was a hot high 12 second car, but as you'll see, it was no match for this electric on steroids! Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie 12.575 @104.85 mph PIR (9-24-05) This is White Zombie's 7th and final run of the night of great racing at PIR. Tim Brehm did the driving. Tim's dad was a bit excited running the video cam and caught the best action, but he got the wrong side of the track at the end, so it doesn't reflect the Zombie's time and speed. It's OK, because you can clearly hear the announcer's voice as he reports the run. The track let us be the final pass of the night at exactly midnight, so it's a solo run. Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• White Zombie 12.65 @104 mph Woodburn Run (9-4-05) Think EVs are slow, dull and boring? Think Again! Here's White Zombie with Tim Brehm at the wheel blasting up to 104 mph at the '05 Woodburn Drags. This version is powered by 348V of Hawker AeroBatteries and the Siamese 8 twin armature motor fed by a Zilla Z2K controller. We had a 'small' problem with a vaporized brush spring during the burnout. Look closely at the thumbnail picture below and you can see the fireball sparks dropping from the rear motor section. This video has two camera views with the aggressive burnout, fireball scene, and launch caught by East Coast EVer Bob Rice, and the terrific high speed action caught by Portland EVer Ross Olson from his finish line vantage point. Many of our EV drag videos are shot from the excitement area of the start line and miss the blur of an EV at speed...not this one. White Zombie flashes by Ross' video cam lens at 104 mph! Special note...that's Father Time seen on the motorcycle near the digital reader board returning from a run. (Large File)

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• White Zombie vs 405 hp Corvette (9-2-05) From the first Wayland Invitational drag races, this video was captured by Bob Rice. It 'was' pretty complete with the Vette doing his burnout, then the Zombie pulling an even more impressive burnout, then the two cars staging, then the race 'all' the way down the track, then the readerboard's report at the end...that was before Bob accidentally erased the beginning and the end of the footage :-( We've salvaged what's left in this clip. After being blown away by an electric Datsun, the Vette driver's ego was too bruised to handle and with his tail between his legs, he left the track and took his Vette home. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Blue Meanie Burnout ('95) This video shows Blue Meanie doing a mild burnoff, back when it was powered by just 12 Optima batteries (144V) and a 450 amp air cooled Auburn Kodiak controller. The drive system consisted of a 9 inch Advanced DC motor coupled to the stock 4 speed tranny. It was 1995, Optima Yellow Tops were still in their prototype stage, and more robust controllers with more than twice the power such as the DCP Raptor 1200 and Zilla weren't developed yet. Though not nearly as quick and powerful as today's Blue Meanie, it's still fun to see how it performed 10 years ago. Click on picture to view. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• White Zombie Burnout ('04) This is a full boil burnout captured by east coast EVer friend Bob Rice at the '04 Woodburn Electric Drags. This was the 240V Exide Orbital powered version, with twin 8 inch Warfield motors and the direct drive system featuring a Ford 9 inch rear end axle set up. The burnout caused a few jaws to drop from the gasser dudes at the track. Click on picture to view. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• White Zombie 12.99 @ 101 mph ('04) Here's White Zombie when it ripped off a 12.99 @ 101 mph against a 300+ hp V8 Mustang, and set the still standing SC/B record for a street conversion EV in the up-to 240V class. The 240V Exide battery pack consisted of 20, marine deep cycle Blue Top 12V Orbitals, and the power train was the twin Warfield 8 inch motors coupled shaft - to - shaft, direct drive into a Ford 9 inch rear end with 4:57 gears. An original Godzilla 1400 amp motor controller, a series-parallel motors switch-over system, and the radical 'Afterburner' contactor bypass sent power to the motors. Prior to the race in the pits, we didn't know the guy on the cell phone...he was just another drag racer there that night, but as you'll see, he was more than a bit impressed by White Zombie. We had two video cameras capturing the exitement with one positioned at the start line near the burnout pits and the other in the grandstands. Coworker Steve Schrab manned the start line camera, and just before the race with both cars still in the staging lanes, had asked the Mustang driver if he wanted to run his 'stang against the electric Datsun. The Mustang driver and his buddies that were hanging around laughed at the idea, apparently assuming the V8 Mustang was gonna trounce the little battery car. Dave, the track anouncer, gives great commentary and kudos to the electric car. Having witnessed White Zombie set a benchmark the weekend before when it became the first street legal electric car to break through the 100 mph barrier at a pinch over the century mark, on this night he remarks "This is John Wayland back again...see if he can crack the 101 mph barrier this time in the electric car." Once the race is under way, you can hear Steve excitely yelling,"Get him John...get him John." Appropriately set to music by AC/DC, this is a fun race to watch. Turn the volume up LOUD for this one! Click on picture to view. (Large File)

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• Red Beastie on the News ('99) Red Beastie was a joint project between John and the late Dick 'hotrod' Finley. It was a 120V Toyota XtraCab pickup stuffed full with 2500 lbs. of batteries... 40, T-105 golf car batteries that gave it a 120 mile range per charge! Motive power came from a single 9 inch ADC motor (stock 5 speed tranny) fed by a purposefully current limited 450 amp DC Power Systems motor controller. This video from 1999 features the electric pickup in footage from Oregon's channel 2 TV news, and gives a nice view of this longer range EV as it drives along on a cool and rainy Pacific Northwest afternoon. As usual, there's the expected negative spin thrown in at the end of the segment where the news crew's weatherman sarcastically adds his two cents worth. He smirks about the truck not making the journey up and over Oregon's Mt. Hood as he jumps in with, "You'd have to leave on Friday to get there on Sunday." With its massive battery pack, Red Beastie probably could have made the trip to, up, and over the mountain (about 45 miles east of Portland), down the other side, and on to the Warm Springs Indian reservation that's about 80 miles away from Portland in Oregon's high desert country.(Large File)

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• Ryan Seacrest Test Drives the Heavy Metal Garden Tractor ('97) The TV star takes a spin on an early version of the Heavy Metal Garden Tractor. Seacrest and a video production crew were at this NEDRA EVent to capture Rod Wilde's Maniac Mazda beating a V10 Viper in the quarter mile drag, but while Ryan was hanging around in the pit area, he was drawn to the rock'n tractor by its hard hitting sound system. Click on picture to view. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Zombie vs GM's EV1 ('98) From the '98 Phoenix APS Electrics races, this is a classic face off between a backyard built DC powered conversion against a factory built AC powered EV. White Zombie wasn't nearly as quick in '98 as it is today, and only managed a 16.16, but it was still a full second quicker than the EV1. This version had an 11 inch Kostov motor, a heavy duty racing clutch and 5 speed tranny, a 1400 amp Godzilla controller, and 240V of Optimas. The EV1 was still impressive with its 17.09 second run, considering it was not set up for drag racing and was driven to the track with its 70-90 mile range per charge lead acid pack. (Large File)

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• Plasma Boy vs 3rd Gear ('96) While at the '96 Phoenix APS electric car races, Plasma Boy entered White Zombie in the nighttime drag races. This classic footage shows a very early version of John's electrified Datsun 1200 race car before it became a direct drive setup and when it still had an Adanced DC 9 inch motor and a 5 speed transmission. Powered at 180V with 15 Optima Red Top batteries and with a single Kilovac 'Bubba' contactor as an on-off switch, the car laid rubber in all 5 gears! On launch, it paints about 15 feet of black tire patches, followed by a crisp 2nd gear tire squeal, but on this run John missed his 3rd gear shift. After a few stabs at it, he jammed it into gear with a resultant impressive 2nd - 3rd upshift tire squeal. Listen carefully and you can also hear 4th and 5th gear rubber!. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Excited EV Race Fan ('98) Not much of an intro is needed for this short video. It's a clip from a German television production that covered the '1998 Woodburn drags, and it catches Plasma Boy hanging out with a friend. (Dial-up Friendly)

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• Heavy Metal Garden Tractor vs GE Electrak ('03) From a fun time at the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association (VEVA) EV Show held in Vancouver, BC Canada each June, here's a video showing how John's wacky and cool electric MTD garden tractor got mauled by a more powerful GE Electrak garden tractor. Though out muscled by the GE machine, the HMGT put up a good fight. With it's rad sound system, it did however, win the stereo contest! (Large File)

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• SEVA Long Distance Rally - Seattle TV News ('84) This is the oldest known video of Blue Meanie, way before it was ever known by that name, back when its system voltage was a low 48V and its drive motor was an aircraft starter-generator. John had traveled from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA to take part in SEVA's 'Long Distance EV Rally', but instead of driving as if an egg were under the accelerator to get the best range at low speeds, he pushed the gleaming little Datsun aggressively, spinning its rear tires and cranking the sound system to thrill those new to EVs. You can hear the reporter asking John to 'not burn it out'. VCRs were still not all that common in households in the early 80s, so it's remarkable anyone had taped the news that night. The video is a copy of a copy of a copy, so the quality is low, but the EV historical content is high! The thumbnail below is an under-hood shot showing six of the eight 6V golf car batteries that made up the 48V battery pack. (Large File)

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• EV Awareness Day Zombie Smoke Show ('96) One of the more radical burnouts for White Zombie, this one was performed using the prototype controller of the now famous 'Zilla' line of super powered DC motor controllers. The car had 180V of Red Top Optimas, an Adanced DC 9 inch motor and a 5 speed manual tranny, a full race clutch, and a beefed up Datsun rear axle fitted with a Nissan Competition 4:38 differential with limited slip. It was done at the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association's 'EV Awareness Day' EVent. The cloud of smoke was pretty awesome as it wafted across a busy street nearby drawing in a couple of police cruisers. They stopped by to ask if anyone saw street racers doing reckless car stunts as they were looking at the thick gooey melted tire residue imbedded in the still-smoldering asphalt, but when they were informed of the electric cars they had suspected, one of the officers said, "Let's go, no electric car could do this". (Dial-up Friendly)

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