At the University of South Australia the teachers and the students have together designed and built an amazing vehicle. They give it a name as the Trev.
Features of Trev
It comes with the following features:
* It has got two comfortable seats, since more than 90% of urban trips have only one or two people in the car;
* It has enough luggage space for at least two overnight bags;
* It possess 300 kg mass because using a 2.5 tonne vehicle for commuting is ridiculous;
* It has energy-efficient tyres, brakes and suspension;
* It provides a clean, quiet and efficient electric drive system;
* It has been designed in accordance with the road safety and worthiness regulations;
* It gives good performance, with a top speed of 120 km/h; and
* It gives 150 km of city driving before the car must be recharged.
The most important feature of this car is that, it uses less than 1/5 of the energy required by a conventional car, and it can be recharged easily by using electricity from clean, renewable sources such as solar and wind.
And I think that doesn’t look bad…
Unique Features
* The tandem seating layout used in this car gives good aerodynamics, good balance, and good vision.
* Due to the acrylic canopy the driver can have an unimpeded view of the road.
* The opening of the canopy and door is on the kerb side of the car.
* Due to its electric motor it provides a smooth, quiet acceleration from 0–100 km/h in just less than 10 seconds.
* As it has a composite tub chassis, with foam and plastic body panels, so due to all these things the total mass of car is 300 kg.
* A drive of over 150km of city is given by a 45 kg lithium ion polymer battery.
* Low rolling resistance is provided by the low-energy tyres on low-mass alloy wheels.
* Due to the single rear drive wheel the suspension is simplified, and it allows a simple, efficient transmission.
Performance
The “Trev” was driven by them in October 2007 from Darwin to Adelaide in the Greenfleet Technology Class of the World Solar Challenge. During the journey they mostly drive 80 – 120 km at speeds of 80 – 90 km/h before stopping to recharge from a generator.In just 6 days they manage to complete the 3020 km trip.
The energy consumed by them was 6.2 kWh/100 km. They recharged it from solar, wind or hydro, there are no emissions.
The Electricity costs them about $0.18 per kWh. The recharging cost of Trev is 2¢ cents per mile, so in the entire journey the total cost was $33 for electricity.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
If Universities on modest budgets can produce technology like this why can’t the big auto manufactures with their vast development resources achieve more? Can we believe GM, Chrysler or Toyota if they say that the technology for a practical electric car is not available yet? Well done University of South Australia, you should make sure this vehicle is displayed at all the Australian and international motor shows to shame and blame the auto manufacturers for dragging their feet. You might also attract additional funding as a bonus.