JMU AFV Lab Blog

This article was on the autoguide.com blog this morning. A team of students from the University of British Columbia have converted an old ‘72 VW Beetle to an electric vehicle using lithium iron phosphate batteries and an 3 phase AC induction motor.  They are now in the middle of Canada on a cross Canada trip to demonstrate the capabilities of battery electric vehicles. Below the article is a YouTube video showing details about the car. Check it out.

Source: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/tag/ubc-electric-car-club

Students to Race Across Canada in Electric VW Beetle

On your mark, get set, drive green! A few determined students from the University of British Columbia are aiming to set a record for the fastest coast-to-coast drive across Canada in an electric vehicle. And not just any electric vehicle – they’re making the trek in a homemade electrified classic Volkswagen Beetle.

Their journey began last week as they set off from Vancouver to complete the 4,000-mile journey. Getting them there is the E-Beetle, a 1972 Bug the UBC Electric Car Club converted to run on electricity. Powered by a three-phase AC induction motor that’s hooked up to a lithium iron phosphate battery, the E-Beetle can go about 185 miles when cruising at 60 mph and 340 miles at 30 mph. If involved in a high-speed chase, the car can reach a top speed of around 85 mph. It takes four hours to recharge and it comes equipped four wheel discs with regenerative braking.

It’s a long drive, but these students are prepared. They’ve planned ahead and mapped out places to spend the night and plug in the car. There’s even a team blog you can follow that charts their progress.

[Source: Wired]

Source: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/tag/ubc-electric-car-club

This article was on the gizmag.com website this morning. The team led by Ohio State engineering students designed and built an electric powered vehicle that set a world record average two-way speed of 307.7mph. Shows you what a dedicated group of students can do.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/buckeye-bullet-25-world-land-speed-record/16140/

Buckeye Bullet 2.5 claims battery electric vehicle world land speed record of 307.7mph

The Bullet Buckeye team from Ohio State University has set a world record average two-way speed of 307.7mph (495km/h) with its battery electric Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2.5. The lithium ion battery powered car eclipsed the previous 245mph (394km/h) world land speed record for battery electric vehicles set in 1999 by White Lightning. The new record was set by the Bullet at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this week, is pending certification by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the worldwide motor sports governing body.

The Bullet was required to make two speed runs, one each in opposite directions and within 60 minutes, in order to be considered for the record. While the record is officially determined by averaging the speed of the two runs in the middle of the 12-mile course, the Bullet exited the flying mile at 320 mph (515km/h).

The team led by Ohio State engineering students had anticipated making further tries at besting its time this week but decided to stop after spending all night trying to replace the vehicle’s broken clutch; too much torque from the motor ripped apart the half-inch steel teeth that connect the motor to the gearbox.

The Bullet 2.5 uses the same body and chassis of the hydrogen fuel cell powered Buckeye Bullet 2, and nearly the same electric traction system, but it is powered by a 600+ kW A123 Systems lithium-ion battery pack that was designed, tested and assembled by the Bullet team and A123 Systems. The team is supported by French electric vehicle manufacturer Venturi Automobiles, the company behind the Fetish and Volage electric sportscars.

The Buckeye Bullet 2, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, set an FIA-certified world record of 302.877mph (487.4km/h) for the fuel cell class in 2009. While the original battery-powered Buckeye Bullet set a national record at 314.9mph (506.7km/h) in 2004, however this record did not meet FIA specifications. That team did, however, set a certified record of 132.129mph (212.6km/h) in 2007.

The Buckeye Bullet 2.5 will provide a test platform for systems including an all new inverter, control system and batteries to be used in the Buckeye Bullet 3.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/buckeye-bullet-25-world-land-speed-record/16140/

This article was on the gizmag blog this morning. This professor in Scotland has developed a means of converting distillery waste into biobutanol. Quoting from the article: “Butanol is a four carbon alcohol which is said to give up to 30 percent more output power than ethanol and has a lower vapor pressure and higher flashpoint which makes it easier to handle. It’s also less corrosive making it easier to transport and store, and whereas ethanol can only be blended with petrol, butanol can also be blended with diesel or biodiesel. Significantly, butanol can also be used as a stand-alone transportation fuel in ordinary vehicles without the need for special engine modification.” To my layman’s perspective, this would seem to be a better fuel than ethanol, which requires extensive engine modification. At any rate, perhaps JMU students could work with MillerCoors to duplicate such a process here at JMU?

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/whisky-byproduct-biofuel-created/16098/

One for the road: Researchers develop biofuel from whisky waste

By Paul Ridden

02:55 August 21, 2010

The message is clear. Whisky and driving is not a good mix. But rules are made to be broken and researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have managed to successfully marry the two, albeit as a fuel for the vehicle and not the driver. Researchers have taken two by-products of the whisky-making process and transformed them into an energy dense biofuel that doesn’t require vehicles to undergo any modification prior to use.

The technology behind the development is said to have been inspired by a 100 year old process known as Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol fermentation, which was developed by chemist Chaim Weizmann (who also just happened to be Israel’s first President). For the last couple of years, researchers at the Edinburgh Napier University’s Biofuel Research Center have been tweaking and finely tuning the process using distilling by-products supplied from Diageo’s Glenkinchie Distillery. Diageo’s whisky brands include Johnny Walker, J&B, Talisker Single Malt and of course Glenkinchie.

Every year, Scotland’s GBP4 billion (about US$6.2 billion) malt whisky industry produces around 1,600 million liters of pot ale – the liquid from the copper stills – and 187,000 tonnes of draff – the spent grains. The research project led by Professor Martin Tangney has managed to successfully convert these waste products into biobutanol.

Butanol is a four carbon alcohol which is said to give up to 30 percent more output power than ethanol and has a lower vapor pressure and higher flashpoint which makes it easier to handle. It’s also less corrosive making it easier to transport and store, and whereas ethanol can only be blended with petrol, butanol can also be blended with diesel or biodiesel. Significantly, butanol can also be used as a stand-alone transportation fuel in ordinary vehicles without the need for special engine modification. As well as being used as a biofuel, the new biobutanol product can also be used to manufacture other renewable bio-chemicals, like acetone.

Professor Tangney said: “The EU has declared that biofuels should account for 10 per cent of total fuel sales by 2020. While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them. This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland’s biggest industries.”

Edinburgh Napier University has now filed a patent for the new biofuel and plans to form a company to take the new product into commercial production – next stop, the petrol pumps.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/whisky-byproduct-biofuel-created/16098/

A Hand-Cranked Hybrid Car

This article was on the Forbes.com website. It’s quite an interesting idea. Inventor Charles Samuel Greenwood has created a unique “human powered” vehicle that utilizes four people “rowing,” like in a canoe or scull to propel the vehicle. The article goes on to say: “However, Greenwood addresses the times when owners may not have three friends available to help power the vehicle. The HumanCar Imagine PS (power station) is equipped with electric plug-in capabilities so that a single person operating a hand crank can power the vehicle. That makes this a genuine human-electric hybrid. Forget the advanced gasoline-electric hybrids of today; tomorrow’s hybrid is a true muscle car.” Check out the YouTube video and article below, or go to http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/18/hybrid-car-toyota-technology humancar.html?boxes=techchannellighttop to see the article.  This looks like something that could be inspiration for an AFV Lab project.

Melissa Hincha-Ownby, 08.18.10, 06:00 PM EDT

The HumanCar Imagine PS uses hand cranks to generate power.

The next big thing in hybrid vehicles may not come from the likes of Toyota or General Motors. Instead, it may come from Charles Samuel Greenwood. Greenwood has been working on a human-powered vehicle concept for decades, and all of his hard work is coming together in the form of the HumanCar Imagine PS. The vehicle seats four and generates power through a system of hand cranks. Yes, hand cranks.

One might think that a hand-cranked vehicle would be marketable only as a neighborhood vehicle with a limited top speed. However, the HumanCar has surprising potential–a top speed of 30 mph going uphill and 60 mph on a flat surface. All of this can be achieved via human power and nothing else.

However, Greenwood addresses the times when owners may not have three friends available to help power the vehicle. The HumanCar Imagine PS (power station) is equipped with electric plug-in capabilities so that a single person operating a hand crank can power the vehicle. That makes this a genuine human-electric hybrid. Forget the advanced gasoline-electric hybrids of today; tomorrow’s hybrid is a true muscle car.

This zero-emissions vehicle is not only better for the environment; it improves the driver’s health thanks to the workout you get while driving it. The human health aspect was part of Greenwood’s decision to build and ultimately refine this concept.

“It was 1968. Traffic was at a complete standstill, again, on a busy boulevard in what is now known as the Silicon Valley,” Greenwood wrote. “Sitting within their cars were many commuters who were overweight and out of shape, breathing unhealthy exhaust fumes. As a young engineer working at my first job at a research and development laboratory for a major corporation, it seemed intuitively that there must be a better way to move people around than this.”

And with that, the concept for the HumanCar Imagine PS was born. The vehicle is street legal as a low-mass vehicle and is vehicle-to-grid (V2G) compatible. Greenwood plans to bring the vehicle to market next year but is already taking reservations on his website. A $50 fully refundable, no-questions-asked reservation fee will put you on the list for a $15,500 HumanCar Imagine PS.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/18/hybrid-car-toyota-technology-humancar.html?boxes=techchannellighttop