Brief experience with small eCar, student team

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All,

I am working with a group of 13 undergraduate engineering students putting together 2 small electric cars based on the commercialy available BugE kit. One is to be battery electric and the other a fuel cell/battery hybrid. I could write a small book on why it is a bad idea for a faculty member to propose such a thing, but the students are learning a lot, I hope.

They have the battery electric essentially finished and are testing it by driving it 10 miles each morning and evening, simulating what a commuter might do. We will increase it to 15 miles next week. The point of the project is to determine the technical/practical feasibility and public acceptance of such an alternative for people who live relatively near work (within a 15 mile radius), can get to work on city roads (speed limit less than 40 mph), and drive alone every day.

The project is not finished yet. We have run into several delays getting the fuel cell so that is behind. The students are working on a sustainability analysis of their cars and other transportation options and are conducting surveys in addition to testing the vehicles.

Anyway, I wanted to post some of my personal initial observations, that I find interesting (these are U.S.-centric, by the way. The study is regionally restricted):
1) perceived and real safety is a big impediment to many people adopting smaller speciality use vehicles.
2) Everything is a function of the price of gas. Right now, most people seem to be unwilling to consider options substantively different from a regular passenger vehicle, even if they are the sole occupant 60% of the time.
3) People are very affected by the styling of the vehicle. They seem much more interested the "cooler" the vehicle looks. Style is as important as capability.
4) The ultimate sustainability of the transportation system is not yet of much concern when vehicle choices are made, even among people who generally consider themselves environmentally concious.
5) Among people who are NOT likely to adopt alternate personal transportation options quickly, there is a sense that suggesting policy changes that would increase adoption of alternate transporation is not acceptable. Those might include, for example, increasing taxes on gas to pay for adding publically accessible charging stations or restricting certain roads to vehicles under a certain gross weight that would prohibit large personal vehicles. In general, people in our region do not like intrusions into what they perceive as a free market unless they personally benefit immediately and directly. I don't think that is surprising but the level of resistance has surprised me, even given that petroleum is a finite resource with a relatively close horizon for significant price escalation.

Anyway, to summarize my personal observations, I don't think the time has come where ultralight electric vehicles are going to experience much market penetration. Gas will have to get much more expensive. I think some interesting work could be done to try to predict the rate of adoption of different sized vehicles as a function of gas price, vehicle purchase price, safety, etc. The technology largely exists, if people are willing to compromise on vehicle gross weight. For a full sized vehicle, I think the ultimate sustainabilty of simply electrifying the current system is dubious. That is my current opinion however and the final verdict is still out until a very thorough analysis has been done.

I am going to try to post a picture of the vehicle in the shop with the canopy and battery pan tilted up. The students are making videos and I will try to get them to upload them eventually.

Anyway, I've wanted to comment on this. I've gained a lot of information from these forums and have appreciated the benefits.

 

[dogman dan]

Oooh. Being one of those 1% ers that will adopt, you can send that to me when you are done. Drools al over the keyboard. That thing has all the style I'd ever want.

Just curious, what is the battery version running on?

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I wish the Bug-E kit was available here in the UK at an affordable price, as it would meet most of my local transport needs perfectly. Unfortunately it'd probably cost a small fortune to ship just a single kit to the UK from the NW of the US.

I'm intrigued by the student findings about the price of fuel and the impact that may have on choices. Living somewhere where the fuel price is already nearly double that in some parts of the US I've observed that rising fuel prices have just caused people to switch to more economical cars, but haven't caused a switch to any alternative transport systems. People still only use public transportation methods like buses and trains if the absolutely have to; many would still rather use an expensive to run car for the convenience. I have a feeling that even when fuel here hits the equivalent of $10 per US gallon (which I guess it will in the next couple of years) people will still stick to cars, they'll just give up other things to pay the extra cost.

Jeremy

 

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All,

I am pasting a copy of an email I just sent to the team. Some preliminary data on energy use is in it so you can get an idea of what the energy consumption is like. Electricity costs here in east TN, USA are low; a lot of coal nearby and we have a nuclear plant near by also. Cost is 8.67 cents, US, per kWh. We are testing the car to simulate what we are calling a "near urban commute"; that is, for someone who lives withing 15 miles of their workplace and has a route they can take that does not require travel on a highway. The car was geared for hill climbing, because it is very hilly here. The top end is somewhere around 45 mph. It would do 55 if you built it with the wheel gear it comes with; the students installed a smaller rear gear for hills. It does have very impressive hill-climbing ability. I can't imagine the hill that would stop it. Due to the fact that I would probably end up personally liable if there were an accident, we test early and late in the day, on roads not used for through traffic. We attract a lot of attention when testing though. The students are having a ball. It's a lot of work for essentially no personal benefit except seeing the students get some experience in the "real world". Don't think I'd do it again. Some numbers on the motor and controller are at: http://www.evparts.com/products/street-vehicle/adaptors--and--kits--dot/conversion-kits---street-vehicle/ak2161.htm
Although I tried to get the students to use different batteries, they went with 60 Ahr/36V of Thundersky LiFePO4. I try to make my case but in the end, let them do what they want as long as they know the impact of their choices.


"All,

As I indicated earlier, we overran the batteries Thursday and Scott and I had trouble getting the batteries to take the charge Thursday night. Friday morning,Ginny and I were able to get the batteries to start charging, but we had to postpone the morning trial. Friday afternoon, I took the car to Stephenson early and drove the first 15 miles, keeping the current low and trying to go easy on the braking (we really need regenerative braking) to save energy, while trying to get to 35 mph on each run and keep the average speed up. Justin got to the test area at 5 PM and drove the last 15 miles. On the last half mile, the LVC alarm went off, so Justin baby-ed it to get the last half mile. We were able to get 30 miles out of the pack without charging. The total Ahr consumed was 38.8.

I used Dr. Cherry's "Watts Up" Friday night to measure the energy into the battery. We only got about 47.3% efficiency charging, the the actual cost per mile at KUB rates is more like 0.838 cents per mile, or about 25 cents a day for a 30 mile round trip commute. Commuting 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year is a yearly energy cost of $65.00 My personal commute is less than half that so I would spend less than $32.50 a year on energy for commuting. Pretty good deal, huh?

Mike P. has the record for the lowest energy use per mile, at 41.4 Whr/mile at an average speed of 18.9 mph and a max speed of 30.1. Next is Scott, at 42.8, Whr/mile at an average speed of 20.2 and a max speed of 32.2. The best I've done is 44.8 with an average speed of 22.3 and a max speed of 38.0.

Michelle and I are at Dowell Springs right now, Saturday morning, 8:00 AM. She just pulled in to log her first 15 miles. The course is pretty hilly and so far she has used 18.28 A-hr. We are shooting for 30 miles. If she can get it, I think we've accomplished one of our objectives; we built a vehicle that will do 30 miles, round trip, no charging. It will be very close. She's trying to be easy on the throttle, but she is getting an average speed over 20 mph, so it is a legitimate simulated run, I'd say. I'll let you know if we get it."

EDIT: In the original post, I incorrectly calcuated the yearly cost to to $260 a year. I mistakenly multipled by an extra "4". The correct cost is $65.00 a year, based on 25 cents a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

 

[Hillhater]

What is that Bug-E made of ??.
It weighs 110kg without electrics, & 200kg before you put a rider in it !
And it seems so BIG too 4' wide x 7'9" long x 4'4" high
That is a LOT of weight & a lot of windage !

 

[neptronix]

That thing is cool as hell. at 225lbs before batteries and with 2.25" tires, it is an honorary eBike in my book!

 

[Lessss]

Basically it's a NEV. Nevs have been legislated into uselessness.
It's not the technology that is the problem it's the LAW and LAW ENFORCEMENT that are the problem.

Where I live a bicycle is defined as no more than three wheels etc.. so a quadracycle bike is is considered by the cops to be a motor vehicle.

Hell segways are a perfect option for a lot of people yet they are illegal most everywhere.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Basically it's a NEV. Nevs have been legislated into uselessness.
It's not the technology that is the problem it's the LAW and LAW ENFORCEMENT that are the problem.

Where I live a bicycle is defined as no more than three wheels etc.. so a quadracycle bike is is considered by the cops to be a motor vehicle.

Hell segways are a perfect option for a lot of people yet they are illegal most everywhere.

I wouldn't disagree about the parlous state of laws around the world with regard to electric vehicles in general, but here the BugE would fit neatly into the light powered tricycle category and only need a fairly straightforward post construction test and inspection to become a licensed vehicle. It'd be exempt from taxes but would need insurance and registration. I do think it could usefully be made a little lighter, but would guess that the need to keep the cost down and make the kit easy to build has impacted on weight.

Governments universally need to pull their finger out and get the legality of crossover electric vehicles sorted. For example, over here I can't legally drive a Segway anywhere except on private land that's not accessible to the public, yet anyone (even someone that's fit and healthy) can buy an electric mobility scooter and drive it pretty much wherever they like.

We're all living with vehicle laws that were framed around horses and carts, and that evolved to cover cars, motorcycles and bicycles, so anything new and different is pretty much illegal from the start unless laws get changed. I'd like to see the stance of law covering vehicles reversed, so that any new vehicle was automatically legal unless a need for some form of control and legislation was found to be necessary after its introduction.

Jeremy

 

[Lessss]

a fairly straightforward post construction test and inspection

Lucky you, here you need an Engineer to certify it. The Engineer then become suable, so most charge fees almost as much as the vehicle to be certified.

 

[pdf]

What is that Bug-E made of ??.
It weighs 110kg without electrics, & 200kg before you put a rider in it !
And it seems so BIG too 4' wide x 7'9" long x 4'4" high
That is a LOT of weight & a lot of windage !

The chassis is steel. The body is fiberglass. In many states in the US, including Tennessee, it is considered a motorcycle and is liscensed and registered as such. The students made a few design modifications to suit our simulated purpose. I am quite sure you could do 55 mph in one. I don't think it would be a good idea.

What the students are interested in is primarily the concept, not the particular vehicle. They went with this vehicle base at my suggestion because the entire study, from issuing bids (the state required we submit requests for bids for the vehicle kits) to final report has to be completed in 6.5 months by college students, half of whom are not even getting course credit for it (depends on their department). There are many improvements they could suggest at this point, having put about 250 miles on it. Most of these would come with increased cost, unless there was sufficient demand to allow mass production. Right now, there is little demand.

Having driven the vehicle myself, I would say that I would be comfortable driving it to work, but I usually ride a bike. The full frontal cowling adds a degree of protection from the environment that I think is worth the tradeoff on very cold or rainy days. I consider it a pretty big hassle to "weatherproof" for riding in a cold rain for the ride to and from work. It is a different matter to get the average driver out of their 5 passenger, climate controlled vehicle into one. Percieved safety is a huge factor and it is, safety-wise, a motorcycle with three wheels. The cowling would offer very little if any protection in the event of an accident.

The difference between this vehicle and an NEV, at least in Tennessee, U.S., is that it is a motorcycle and has no mph restrictions and can travel on roads where NEVs cannot. NEVs are four-wheeled, which makes them "cars".

The last part of the study is to compare several vehicle options in terms of their impacts in the three dimensions of sustainability; economical, environmental, and social. The students are looking at this vehicle (both as a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid and totally BEV), a SmartCar, a Toyota Prius, and a Toyota Camary. The project is being done as a US EPA funded P3 project:
http://www.epa.gov/P3/

When the report is filed, anyone can request a copy from EPA since it is covered by the Freedom of Information Act. I hope we can get permission to ePublish it. If so, I'll let people know where they can read it. I will warn you that it is an undergraduate student report authored by many people so I am not sure what quality the final report will have. Over the years, I've had to accept the fact that sometimes really great things come out of undergraduates but sometimes they are average and sometimes they are sub-average. I guess that is the concept of an average . They have a lot on their plates and sometimes, time management gets the better of them.

They installed a high current Cycle Analyst and they log their trip data every time out. They also just got a GPS-enabled Analogger to record current, power, voltage, position, etc. as a function of time so they will be able to see how grade and acceleration affect performance. They will be installing it this week.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

No matter what the quality of the report, the students WILL remember the experience and it will colour their view of technology, transport etc in the future, in a positive way.

When still at school back in the late 1960's there was a technology initiative to get school students to design and build things. About a dozen of us built a hovercraft, using three small Sachs two stroke engines salvaged from invalid carriages. The experience of that project has always stayed with me, it's given me an enthusiasm for building things and helped to develop my curiosity in to find out how things work.

Jeremy

 

[neptronix]

Ya know, i'd consider buying one of these if it was sealed. Rains too much here in Oregon and theft is a problem... since it is designed in Oregon, it's funny that they didn't think about that when designing this..