JMU AFV Lab Blog

This article was on the “gizmag.com” blog this morning. In Europe, this team achieved a phenomenal 10,382 mpg on a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle! Perhaps this is food for thought for an AFV Lab project. Go to http://www.gizmag.com/shell-fuel-efficiency-record-beaten/15163/ to read more.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/shell-fuel-efficiency-record-beaten/15163/

ECOGIZMO

French team smashes five year efficiency record in eco-marathon

By Paul Ridden

10:49 May 20, 2010

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students.

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students. Team Polyjoule broke the record on the first day of the event and then went on to break its own record by a further 482 kilometers. But the students still expect even more from their hydrogen fueled vehicle and are already looking toward next year’s Marathon.

ETH Zurich of Switzerland achieved the equivalent of 3,836 kilometers on just one liter of fuel in 2005, and set a bar that no-one has been able to top - until now. A joint effort by Polytech Nantes and Lycée La Joliverie smashed the record on the very first day of this year’s Eco Marathon, recording 4,414 kilometers on the equivalent of one liter of fuel (10,382 mpg).

Team Polyjoule had a shaky start which threatened to hamper any attempts, after their hydrogen-powered prototype broke down during pre-marathon testing. Once they pooled resources with Lycée La Joliverie, however, they proceeded to stomp all over the Swiss record. The feat is said to have been made possible by enhancing their vehicle’s electronics monitoring system, which minimizes energy loss.

The French students were not quite finished with Shell’s Eco Marathon, though, which saw over 200 teams taking part. On the very last day of the annual event, they added another 482km to their own record, traveling the new official world record of 4,896.1 kilometers per liter of fuel - a distance “roughly the equivalent of driving from the head to toe of Europe, from the North Cape in Norway down to the toe of the Italian peninsula.”

Polytech Nantes team leader Pauline Tranchard praised the team effort, which saw the students not only set a new world record but also take first place in the fuel cell category, which led them to an overall first place victory. “Five years’ research went into getting us to 4,896 kilometers on one liter of fuel,” she said. “Our insight and the wealth of experience that our colleagues from the Lycée de La Joliverie de Nantes brought to the table were both instrumental in helping us reach what many might have considered an unattainable goal.”

Tranchard believes that the team can do even better but will have to wait until next year to prove it.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/shell-fuel-efficiency-record-beaten/15163/

Came across this article on the Gas2.0 Blog this morning. It shows what other colleges and universities are doing in the Alternative Fuel Vehicle area. Perhaps our students could get some ideas here.

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

Student-Built Car Gets 2,487.5 MPG in Shell Eco-Marathon

Written by Nick Chambers

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

This article was on the “Gas 2.0″ blog yesterday. These students have built a supermileage vehicle with carbon fiber bodywork that gets 1,336 mpg on hydrogen. It only weighs 240 pounds. We have carbon fiber here at the AFV Lab and students last year used it to make body panels for the JMU supermilage vehicle. Our group used an aluminum frame to support the carbon fiber panels. However, the group in this article used a frameless, self supporting, carbon fiber structure for the whole body. The video below shows an overview of the construction of the body and chassis of the car and is very entertaining and instructive. Check it out below or at: http://gas2.org/2009/07/13/students-build-hydrogen-vehicle-that-gets-1336-mpg/.

Source: http://gas2.org/2009/07/13/students-build-hydrogen-vehicle-that-gets-1336-mpg/

Students Build Hydrogen Vehicle That Gets 1,336 MPG

Written by Jerry James Stone

Published on July 13th, 2009

Turkish students at Sakarya University have built a hydrogen car that gets 1,336 mpg. Well, sorta.

Called the SAHİMO, the vehicle’s current range is about 353 miles on a quarter gallon of fuel (568 kilometers on 1 liter). It travels such an obscene distance with so little fuel due to the vehicle’s uber-light weight: it weighs only 240 pounds (110 kilograms). The car’s made up of 90-percent carbon fiber.

I assume the size and weight limit it to holding only a liter of fuel. I couldn’t verify this as their site is in Turkish and mine is a little rusty.

The SAHMO won third most efficient vehicle in Europe’s 26th Shell Eco Marathon. And their next goal is to conquer the inaugural 2009 Global Green Challenge–an evolution of the World Solar Challenge competition in Australia–this October. About twenty electric, hybrid, alternative fuel and low emission production and prototype vehicles will compete in the race.

Melemez, a fourth-year student in the engineering department at Sakarya University, says “We are hoping to raise our record from 568 kilometers on one liter of hydrogen up to a full 1,000 kilometers on one liter, and we believe we can do it. “

Source: http://gas2.org/2009/07/13/students-build-hydrogen-vehicle-that-gets-1336-mpg/

I just read this article in the Gizmag Emerging Technology e-newsletter I get. I like this idea. It’s one of those “elegant” solutions that make you think: “Why didn’t I think of that!”

It reports on a group in the UK that took a conventional front wheel drive delivery van and installed twin electric motors on the rear axle that are powered by: “…a valve-regulated lead-acid battery rather than the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) or lithium ion (LiIon) technology used in conventional electric vehicles.” They plan to market this as a retrofit kit to install on existing vehicles. This concept could find a market in delivery companies that seldom carry loads that approach the GVWR of the van; delivery companies like florists, parcel services, auto parts jobbers, electrical wholesalers, and the like.

I can even see the possibility of such a project for the AFV Lab. It is doable. It could use a conventional rear drive differential with an electric motor attached to it, like a golf cart or like one of the Vantage vehicles JMU has ordered, or, following this article’s lead, an electric motor at each wheel.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/plug-in-hybrid-retrofit-kit-ice-vehicle/11631/

UK team Develops plug-in hybrid retrofit kit for ICE vehicle

from Automotive (1891 articles)

ADDZEV was developed using a standard Vauxhall Combo van

Image Gallery ( 2 images )

May 8, 2009 Automotive engineering facilities in the UK have joined forces to design a system which allows conventional delivery vans to be cheaply converted to run in a zero-emissions, all-electric mode for urban use. The ADDZEV (affordable add-on zero emissions vehicle) system was developed using a standard Vauxhall Combo van, retaining the existing conventional front-wheel-drive (FWD) system and an adding an electric drive in parallel for the rear wheels. The vehicle can operate with just front wheel drive powered by the internal combustion engine or can turn off the petrol engine and run with rear wheel drive under electric power only.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/plug-in-hybrid-retrofit-kit-ice-vehicle/11631/