December 2011 - Issue #14
Electric buzz hits the road
Story by Staff writer
View articles in related topics: Automotive Industry, Sustainability & The Environment, Education
Hard on the heels of beating Asia’s best in the enduro section of the 2011 Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula SAE competition, a Swinburne team of engineering students has turned its focus to designing, building and trialling an all-electric racing car.
“The students build a new car each year, so now that we’ve gone all electric, future teams will be able to draw on Swinburne’s electric vehicle research and the researchers will be able to work with the students to test their ideas,” says academic supervisor Dr Clint Steele.
The team will put the car to the test at the 2011 Victorian Formula SAE race meet. While they believe the engine’s torque and power should leave petrol cars behind from the start, the challenge will be maintaining the lead to the finish.
A multidisciplinary team of Swinburne researchers has come together to address key challenges facing development of efficient electric vehicles, such as:
- lightweighting
- battery charging and energy infrastructure integration
- architecture
- control and energy management
- electric vehicle drive train technologies.
This research is supported by the AutoCRC (Cooperative Research Centre).
MORE INFORMATION
Swinburne's electric vehicle research group
