The Tour de Sol Reports, 1997
Sponsored by
The AutoAuditorium System
from
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The following is copyright Michael H. Bianchi. Permission to copy is granted provided each Report is presented without modification and this notice is attached. For other arrangements, contact me at +1-973-822-2024 .
For more on the NESEA Tour de Sol, see the web page at
Official NESEA Tour de Sol information is available from the sponsor, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at 413 774-6051 , and 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 , and nesea@nesea.org . All media enquiries should be addressed to ...Jack Groh Groh Associates email: GrohPR@aol.com 401 732-1551 telephone 401 732-0547 fax 401 952-0886 cell/pager
Table of Contents
Report #1: 1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol
Report #2: How Many Ways Can You Stuff Electrons into a Car?
Report #3: ... And Not One Of Them Is Legal To Drive It!
Report #4: Looking for Volunteers
Report #5: Taking Charge: Putting All Those Watts into the Vehicles
Report #6: Team Profile: `Hyades'
Report #7: Team Profile: Hopper EV
Report #8: Team Profile: Sungo
Report #9: Team Profile: `Connecticut EV/NAVC'
Report #10: Team Profile: `Wolverine'
Report #11: Team Profile: `GarnetOne'
Report #12: Team Profile: `Project e-'
Report #13: Michael Shnayerson to speak at Tour de Sol
Report #14: Climbing Mount Washington
Report #15: Final Itinerary
Report #16: Interview: Nancy Hazard, Race Director
Report #17: Registration and Testing in Waterbury CT
Report #18: Team Profile: Ford `Ecostar'
Report #19: Team Profile: `UEHS Solar Tiger'
Report #20: Days 1, 2, and 3 Range Results
Report #21: The Entrants
Report #22: Team Profile: `The Electrifly'
Report #23: Another EVent: Electric Auto Show in Brookline MA
Report #24: Tales From The Charging Trailer - Part 1
Report #25: Another Look: `GarnetOne' from Swarthmore College
Report #26: Team Profile: `Kineticar'
Report #27: Team Profile: `Re-Charger'
Report #28: Final Results
Report #29: A Reporter's Final Thoughts
Report #30: Autocross Results
Report #31: Team Profile: `Suncharger'
Report #32: Team Profile: `Helios the Heron IV'
Report #33: Team Profile: `Solar Saurus'
Report #34: Team Profile: `Electric Lion'
Report #35: Interview: Gary Carr
Report #36: Interview: Ruth MacDougall - Working and playing with EVs
Report #37: Team Profile: `Sol Survivor IV'
Report #38: Notes from Waterbury Before the Start
Report #39: Monday, Day 1 of the Rally
Report #40: Interviews: Gregg Fritz and Lin Higley from Ovonic Battery
Report #41: Team Profile: `59 Berkeley'
Report #42: Team Profile: `Sunpacer'
Report #43: Team Profile: `Ecovox'
Report #44: Tails of the Charging Trailer, Part 2
Report #45: Eric Udell's Pictures on the Web
Report #46: Team Profile: `Electric Hare'
Report #47: Team Profile: `Millenium Falcon'
Report #48: Team Profile: `Tsunami'
Report #49: Team Profile: `NFA Sol Machine'
Report #50: Team Profile: `Evolution'
Report #51: Team Profile: `Charger Bicycle'
Report #52: Tuesday morning, Day 2 of the Rally
Report #53: Team Profile: `Solectria Force NiMH'
Report #54: Interview with Andrew Heafitz: `The Solectria Delivery Van'
Report #55: Team Profile: `Ford Ecostar'
Report #56: Team Profile: `Electra'
Report #57: Team Profile: `Toyota RAV4-EV'
Report #58: Team Profile: `Tsunami'
Report #59: Team Profile: `V.C. I.C.E. Breaker'
Report #60: Tuesday afternoon, Day 2 of the Rally
Report #61: Wednesday morning, Day 3 of the Rally
Report #62: Team Profile: `Enterprise'
Report #63: Interview: Topher Waring
Report #64: Team Profile: `Yankee Pedler'
Report #65: Wednesday afternoon: Day 3 of the Rally
Report #66: Interview: Howard G. Wilson
Report #67: So, What Is New and Different?
Report #68: Battery Meltdown
Report #69: Day 4, Thursday morning
Report #70: `Hyades' Tries to Stay in the Rally
Report #71: Interview: James Worden
Report #72: Friday Morning, Day 5 of the Rally
Report #73: Solar Index Data
Report #74: Interview: Kate Skelly, NESEA School Tour Guide
Report #75: Too Much Snow on Mount Washington, So ...
Report #76: At the Finish Line in Portland
Report #77: Interviews: John Ward on World Solar Challenge and NESEA Tour
Report #78: Friday Night's Picnic and Before Saturday Morning's Autocross
Report #79: That's All, Folks!
The following is copyright Michael H. Bianchi. Permission to copy is granted provided each Report is presented without modification and this notice remains attached. For other arrangements, contact me at +1-973-822-2024 or FAX: +1-973-822-2085 or E-mail: bianchi@bellcore.com . - - - - For more information on the American Tour de Sol, visit the web page at http://www.nesea.org/atds.html - - - - Official American Tour de Sol information is available from the sponsor, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at 413-774-6051. All media enquiries should be addressed to ... Jack Groh Groh Associates Sustainable Public Relations email: GrohPR@aol.com (401)732-1551 tel (401)732-0547 fax - - - -Report #1: 1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol
Folks,
Maybe I'm biased, but I think the next great EV event is the NESEA American Tour de Sol, May 17 through 24 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. 50 vehicles are expected, representing everything from personal projects, elementary school, high school and college built vehicles, current offerings from corporations, and previews of things to come. There will be cars and trucks, plug-in EVs, solar-assisted EVs and hybrid EVs. The Hybrids will be using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), and Methanol. And it is a challenging route! See the Itinerary, below.
As in 1994, 1995 and 1996 I intend to follow the race from Registration to Celebration and present here the backgrounds of the teams and the current of events. ((A little electric humor, there.))
If you would be interested in helping with the race, anywhere along the way, contact NESEA. I'm sure they will be glad to hear from you.
Mike Bianchi
bianchi@bellcore.com
1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol Itinerary (Approximate and subject to change.)
17 May: Saturday WATERBURY, CT - LIBRARY PARK & GRAND STREET 9:00AM - 5:00PM Registration & Vehicle Testing 12:00NOON- 5:00PM Public Display of the Vehicles in Library Park at the Waterbury Super-Charged Solarbration
18 May: Sunday WATERBURY, CT - LIBRARY PARK & GRAND STREET 9:00AM-10:00AM Libra AA Running Club Foot Race 9:00AM- 5:00PM Vehicle Testing and Display at the Waterbury Super-Charged Solarbration
19 May: Monday CT TO MA - WATERBURY TO NORTHAMPTON ROUTE: From downtown Waterbury follow 69N (Rutledge & Wolcott Streets) thruWolcott towards Britol. Right on 72N to 229 to 6E to 10N. Continue on 10N thru Farmington, Avon, Wheatogue, Simsbury, Hoskins, Granby, Southwick (MA), Westfield, Southampton and Easthampton to Northampton. (68 required miles plus extra laps)8:00AM-12:00NOON Vehicle Display, Library Park, Waterbury 12:30PM- 1:00PM Starting Ceremonies, Grand Street, Waterbury 1:00PM- 3:00PM Drive to Northampton, MA 2:30PM- 6:00PM Vehicle Display at Smith Vocational High School 3:00PM- 5:30PM Extra Laps. Last lap started at 5:15 pm. (3.7 miles/lap)
20 May: Tuesday MA TO VT - NORTHAMPTON TO GREENFIELD TO BELLOWS FALLS ROUTE: From Smith Voc., follow 5 and 10N thru W. Hatfield, N. Hatfield, S.Deerfield and Deerfield to Greenfield display. From Greenfield 5N thru Bernardston, N. Bernardston, Guilford, Brattleboro, Putney and Westminster to Bellows Falls display. From Bellows Falls 5N thru Ascutney, Windsor, Hartland and N. Hartland to White River Junction. (107 required miles)8:00AM-10:30AM Vehicle Display at Smith Vocational HS, Northampton 10:30AM-11:00AM Restart Ceremonies and drive to Greenfield, MA 11:00AM- 1:00PM Vehicle Display on Miles St. at NESEA headquarters, Greenfield 1:00PM- 1:45PM Restart Ceremonies and Drive to Bellows Falls, VT 1:45PM- 5:00PM Recharging stopover, Union HS, Bellows Falls, VT 5:00PM- 6:30PM Restart and drive to White River Junction, VT
21 May: Wednesday VT TO NH - WHITE RIVER JUNCTION TO LINCOLN ROUTE: From downtown White River Junction follow 4E to Lebanon. 10N thruHanover, Lyme, Orford, Piermont, Haverhill and N. Haverhill to Rt. 112E thru N. Woodstock to Loon Mt. Resort in Lincoln. (71 required miles plus extra laps)8:00AM-10:30AM Vehicle Display and media event, downtown White RiverJunction10:30AM-12:15PM Restart Ceremonies and drive to Loon Mtn Resort, Lincoln,NH10:00AM- 1:00PM Northern New Hampshire Junior Solar Sprint Race, Loon Mtn 12:15PM- 5:30PM Vehicle Display 1:30PM- 8:00PM Extra Laps. Last lap started at 4:30 pm unless driving continuously (35 mi on rt 93 or 5 mi on secondary rd) 7:00PM- 9:30PM Dinner at Loon Mountain Resort
22 May: Thursday NH - NORTH CONWAY VIA KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY ROUTE: From Loon Mountain Resort take 112E to Bear Notch. Rd., then 302E.thru Bartlett, Glen and Lower Bartlett to N. Conway Center. (48 required miles plus optional Mt. Washington drive. Charging available 1:30- 4:00pm)10:00AM-11:30AM Restart and drive the Kancamagus Hwy to North Conway 11:30AM- 3:30PM Vehicle Display at Energy Fair, Schouler Park, N. Conway 3:30PM- 6:30PM Mt. Washington climb (optional).
Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Climb Optional EventThe Mount Washington Carriage Road, the oldest man-made tourist attraction in America, was opened to the public in 1861 and has since been the means by which over 3,000,000 people have reached the summit of the Northeast's highest peak. Very few, however, have ever done so in an electric vehicle. While no "Tour miles" will be awarded for this achievement, successful candidates will have one of the finest photo opportunities since F.O. Stanley made the first motorized ascent in his famous Steamer in 1899. That "This Car Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker wouldn't look too bad on your bumper, would it? Mount Washington's climate is described, without exaggeration, as "the worst weather in the world". Our plans will be contingent on winds somewhat calmer than the record 231 m.p.h. and a winter's snowfall a bit lass than the record 47 feet. Extra charging time will be available for the brave takers-on before leaving North Conway, and participating vehicles will be expected to get there under their own power.
21 miles each way to base of Auto Road from N. Conway Auto road is 7.6 miles from base to top Average grade is 12% Maximum grade is 18% 65% asphalt, 35% packed gravel Elevation at the base: 1563 feet Elevation at the summit: 6288 feet
23 May: Friday NH TO ME - NORTH CONWAY TO PORTLAND ROUTE: From N. Conway take 302E thru Redstone, Conway Center and Fryeburg to113S thru Brownfield, Hiram, W. Baldwin, E. Baldwin and Steep Falls to 25E through Standish and Gorham to 114E to 22E into Portland. Total miles: (62 required miles)10:00AM-11:40AM Restart and drive to Monument Square, Portland, ME 11:30AM- 4:00PM Finish Line Ceremonies and Vehicle Display, Monument Square, Portland 4:00PM Drive to S. Maine Technical College for Celebration Dinner
24 May: Saturday ME - THE MAINE SOLAR BLAST, DOWNTOWN PORTLAND 8:00AM- 9:00AM Parade to downtown location for Maine Solar Blast events 8:00AM- 9:00AM Electrathon registration pre-inspection 9:00AM- 2:00PM Maine Solar Blast 9:30AM-10:00AM Electrathon Event and Awards, and Autocross pre-inspection 10:00AM- 1:30PM Junior Solar Sprint Event and Awards 2:00PM- 3:00PM NESEA American Tour de Sol Awards
Report #2: How Many Ways Can You Stuff Electrons into a Car?
The NESEA American Tour de Sol is my favorite electric vehicle EVent because it attracts so many different variations of the breed and you can see them on the hoof, in their natural habitat, driving on the highways and backroads of (this year) New England. What I like is seeing all the different technologies people and companies have come up with attempting to create cleaner, more environmentally benign cars and trucks.
Let's talk energy sources and storage. With 36 of the 50 slots spoken for, this year will have more different ways of obtaining and storing electricity than ever before.
In the storage department, we will see at least 6 different battery chemistries:
Flooded Lead Acid Gelled Electrolyte Lead Acid Nickel Cadmium Nickel Metal Hydride Sodium Sulphur Zinc AirThe Zinc Air battery is different from the others, since I am told it is an example of the swap-out-the-battery approach to recharging since it isn't just a matter of running the chemistry backwards to fill it up with voltage.
In the generation department, we will see plug-ins, plus photovoltaic assistance, plus fuel-and-battery hybrids. The fuels will include:
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which is methane Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is propane Biodiesel Methanol ReFormulated Gasoline (RFG)The US DOE (United States Department of Energy) Hybrid Category has nine entrants so far, including seven colleges and universities, a high school, and (a personal favorite) Tom Hopper's personal project.
Tom's `Hopper EV' is never the same twice. The first time I saw it it used bicycle components and had a T-bar steering handle. Tom had climb through the window to get into this narrow, one-person commuting vehicle.
The next year, it had a new frame, motorcycle wheels and components, a new motor, and the throttle and regenerative braking controls were knobs on the steering wheel. Only the mechanical brake was a foot pedal.
The following year there was a new motor and controller, and conventional brake and accelerator/regen-braking foot petals.
Last year it became a hybrid, burning soybean oil in a trailer-mounted engine- generator set. It drove all the way from Concord New Hampshire to New York City, the race itself from NYC to Washington DC, and then home again to Concord without a trailer.
So, what has Tom done this year? I'm told he has > cut the vehicle up < and turned it into a 2-place hybrid, burning methanol in the engine/generator.
It appears that this year will include some new rivalries. Ford has brought their Sodium-Sulphur powered `Ecostar' to several past NATdSs, but this year Toyota has their `RAV4-EV' entered with its Panasonic Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. Solectria will be represented with at least a couple of their `Force NMH' sedans with Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, but west coast rival BATT will be there with their `BatVan' using a Kummerow Zinc Air battery. I would not be surprised if we see some distance-per-charge records set and reset this year.
Oddly (to me at least), the Solectria `Sunrise' which went 373 miles on a single charge of its Ovonic NMH batteries last year is not yet listed. I do hope it will show up.
Report #3: ... And Not One Of Them Is Legal To Drive It!
Anyone who has read my reports from the past three NESEA American Tours de Sol knows that I really like the elementary school kids from the Riverside School in Lyndonville VT.
In 1994, they showed up with `Helios the Heron', a vehicle which never quite moved under its own power. Still they trailered it from stop to stop and talked to everyone about what they tried to do, why it didn't work, and what they were going to do next time! They got lots of knowing, sympathetic smiles from adults who knew it would never work. Like me. They were able to > push < it under the banner at the end of the race in Philadelphia.
The next year, they're back! And this one actually moves under its own power. It didn't get very far, but the fact that it moved at all impressed a bunch of us. It had a personal best of 16 miles that year.
Last year, `Helios the Heron III' had a longest-run of 39.1 miles. These kids are getting the hang of this.
Well, they are coming back again with `Helios the Heron IV'. And this time ... well, here is Andra to tell the story:
Sent: Friday, 28 March, 1997 To: bianchi@bellcore.com Subject: Helios the Heron IV and other mattersDear Mr. Bianchi,
Allow me to introduce myself and the car that my classmates and I are working on. My name is Andra Hibbert and I am an eighth grader at Riverside School [grades 4th-8th]. Riverside currently has fifty-nine students and eleven faculty/staff, four of which are part-time.
As you probably know this is our fourth year in the Tour de Sol. In previous years we have built our vehicle from scratch using a Honda chassis, plywood, and lots of duct tape. This year we are using a 1971 Volkswagen microbus and converting to an electric vehicle. We are using twenty twelve- volt batteries, nine of which are used. There will be ten in series and two banks wired in parallel.
We have a GE 21 horsepower forklift motor, a Curtis controller, and Deka Dominator gell cell 12V batteries.
The main reason we switched to a microbus is for insurance reasons. Our insurance company said that we couldn't have student passengers if our vehicle was homemade so we made the switch. Also `Helios III' just wouldn't make it through inspection this year, you guys are getting tougher!!!
At this point we don't really have a team, so to speak. The selection process has just begun. We do not have committees on our team; we just all work together.
Everything about our vehicle has some student participation, whether it's designing the battery box or writing the brochure. This is one of our shop [industrial arts] project so we are obligated and very motivated to be active in it. Everyone in the school becomes very attached to "our baby." Almost everyone cried last year the first time it went out the driveway and went less than a mile when the chain fell off!!
Our vehicle will, as in previous years, be driven by Karen Budde, our Latin teacher. After the race we plan to use our car as a utility van for the school to drive students to special events.
-Andra Hibbert
So come to the NESEA Tour and see the "Future EV Designers of America, Junior Division."
Report #4: Looking for Volunteers
The 1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol starts with two days of registration and inspection of the entrants. Saturday and Sunday, May 17th and 18th, the teams will assemble at Library Park in downtown Waterbury Connecticut to have their vehicles scrutinized. When the cars are not actively being inspected and tested, they will be on display as part of Waterbury's Supercharged Solarbration. In addition to the NESEA Tour vehicles, this fair includes entertainment, food, and exhibits.
The inspection and testing serves two purposes. First it collects technical data, recording the weight, acceleration, braking and other performance and design information. Secondly, as this is an event that occurs entirely on public streets and highways, there is a great interest in the safety aspects of the vehicles' design and construction. This will be of particular interest because of this year's optional Climb Mount Washington leg. The cars, trucks and motorcycles that go up must also come down. The NESEA folks who run the Tour are very concerned about issues like overheating motors, controllers, and batteries during the 4700 foot climb, and overheating brakes during the descent.
Another major concern is electrical safety. Just as you would not want a fuel leak in a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (and we will be looking for those in the Hybrid Category entrants) you do not want an electrical leak. The NESEA Tour rules require less than 1 milliamp (mA) of current through a 10,000 Ohm resistor when measured between the chassis and the most-positive and most-negative poles of the fully-charged battery. That requirement comes from the fact that 5 mA through the human body can be lethal and 10,000 Ohms is a ball-park value for the resistance of the body hand-to-hand. This sounds like an easy requirement to meet, but experience shows us that sometimes it is overlooked. Often a small amount of moisture or other contamination on the battery modules, connectors or wires can create a leakage path that can get you in trouble. With battery pack voltages getting near 200, and in one case 340, Volts, this is a technical detail that requires design attention.
Looking over the vehicles is interesting, informative and fun. (It is how I got my start.) If you have the interest and can be there Saturday and Sunday, May 17th and 18th, NESEA would love to have you volunteer. Those with knowledge and experience with cars, fuel systems, or electricity are particularly welcome, as we need many eyes to look all over the vehicles. They will also need folks to write down weights, measurements, and information, time accelerations, measure stopping distances, and the like.
If you would be interested in being part of the "scrutineering", give NESEA a call at 413-774-6051. FAX: 413-774-6053. E-mail: transp@nesea.org. I know they will be glad to hear from you.
Report #5: Taking Charge: Putting All Those Watts into the Vehicles
We take electricity pretty much for granted, except when it isn't there when we expect it. This is because over the years many, many electrical engineers have studied the problem of getting electric power from here to there and reduced the answers to a very regular discipline. But that doesn't mean it is always automatic or simple. A couple of years ago, Rob Wills, Technical Director of the NESEA Tour, told me some interesting stories of how the introduction of computers and other office machines which used switching power supplies caused all sorts of problems in the power systems. In short, these machines used electric power in a manner that the power grid had not been designed to handle. The solution involved changes both to the engineering practices used by the power companies and the power supply makers.
Electric vehicles (EVs) present a similar challenge. An event like the NESEA American Tour de Sol is an opportunity to learn what the problems and solutions will be when electric cars and trucks are more common. The NESEA Tour brings together about 50 vehicles that need charging every night and Bob Goodrich is one of the people who figures out how to give each the juice it wants and needs.
Bob is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Norwich University in Northfield VT. (He is the retired, former Director of Research at Northeast Utilities, which serves Connecticut, western Massachusetts and New Hampshire). This year he and his students have improved the NESEA charging station so it can supply and measure up to 225 kiloWatts (kW) of power each night. They are actually expecting the vehicles to need about 175 kW. In addition to providing the power, they will also be measuring several parameters to see just how each vehicle's charger effects the current. They will be able to see just how clean or noisy a charger is, how much current it is drawing, and, with a little help from instruments on-board each vehicle, what percentage of the power delivered actually goes to driving it down the road. The current will actually be measurable in three standard ways:
in True Root-Mean-Squared (RMS) Amperes, in Peak-Response RMS Amperes, and in Average-Response RMS Amperes.Those last two measurements are common in relatively inexpensive ammeters; the first is usually only available with the most expensive instruments. A waveform monitor built into the system will allow each team to see just what it's charger is doing. And a computer control will automaticly collect data from each electrical outlet in use throughout the night.
The charging trailer is organized into a couple of main panels and some sub- panels. Each will be able to measure the total current, and the main panels will also be able to see the total waveform and energy, and they can calculate power factor (a measure of how accurately the delivered energy will be measured by the power company).
The promise of EVs is that they can help reduce the pollution and environmental impact caused by personal and industrial transportation around the world. Collecting all this data has already helped power companies and the people who build EVs see how dependent they are on each other to get all the details right. When they do, the results can be quite impressive. The past two NESEA Tours have already demonstrated that even when oil is burned to make the electricity that charges an electric car, that car gets many more miles per gallon of crude oil than the equivalent gasoline-powered car.
Report #6: Team Profile: `Hyades'
Some of the vehicles that show up for the NESEA American Tour de Sol come from other venues with a well established history. `Hyades', from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield Michigan, as already earned honors at the June 1996 FutureCar Challenge. There it won 2nd Place Overall, and Best Engineering Design, Best Use of Advanced Technology, and Best Development and Use of Advanced Materials. Sounds impressive. What did they do to earn such accolades?
Starting with a 1996 Ford Taurus, the Lawrence Tech students designed and built a parallel hybrid vehicle that combines a 90 horsepower (hp) Diesel engine with a 43 hp permanent magnet motor. The result is a car that drove from Dearborn Michigan to Chicago Illinois at an average speed of 65 miles-per-hour carrying 4 people and delivering 65 miles-per-gallon! How did they do that? Here are the specs:
Vehicle Type 1996 Ford Taurus Hybrid Configuration Parallel Curb Weight 3857 pounds Acceleration 0 - 60 mph in 11.5 seconds Top Speed 112 mph (governed) Transmission Modified Automatic, without torque converter Range Hybrid mode up to 600 miles Electric mode 70 miles
Engine Type Volkswagen Turbochraged Direct Injection Displacement 1.9 liter Power 90 hp @ 4000 rpm Thermal Efficiency 43% Cooling System Water Cooled
Fuel Type 9 gallons, Diesel Energy 325 kiloWatt-hours (kWh)
Motor Type Unique Mobility 3-phase, 18 pole, permanent magnet, brushless DC with controller Power 43 hp Efficiency 90% Cooling System Water Cooled
Battery Type Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride Number of Modules 13 Pack Voltage 194 Volts Energy 16.25 kWh Weight 510 pounds Charge Time Up to 7 hoursThe base vehicle was extensively modified to cut down air drag and weight. A low-profile Prismatic mirror system reduces the "blind spot" and lowers drag. An air suspension system lowers the vehicle ride height when at highway speeds. Low rolling-resistance tires are mounted on aluminum rims and the brake rotors are also aluminum. The front fenders are made of aluminum, the hood and wheel skirts of carbon fiber composite materials, and the tinted safety glass is also light-weight.
The drive train starts with a modified transmission. Both the engine and motor connect to it and they can each propel the car alone or together, hence the designation "parallel hybrid". The batteries also supply the electrically powered hydraulic steering system, the programmable logic controller (PLC) and the usual 12 Volt accessories, although the running lights are high intensity Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). In normal mode, the electric motor accelerates `Hyades' from rest to about 10 miles-per-hour. Then the clutch engages, starting the diesel engine. The engine and motor operate simultaneously to provide motive power. The amount of electric motor assist is regulated by the PLC to maximize powertrain efficiency. To improve fuel economy and reduce emissions, the diesel is never allowed to idle more than a few seconds. It turns off when the brake pedal is depressed or when the accelerator is released for more than five seconds.
The team is very proud of their accomplishments. Lawrence Tech's school motto is "Theory and Practice" and the team's focus is "Reliability and Dependability". As the school's largest student project, it involved some 80 people from the electrical and mechanical engineering, engineering technology and management undergraduate programs, plus several graduate students pursuing their Master of Automotive Engineering degree. Faculty advisor Dr. Greg Davis noted that at the 1996 FutureCar Challenge, `Hyades' did not require service during the entire week of competition. After the event, their's was the only FutureCar to drive from Dearborn to Chicago for a press conference at Argonne National Laboratory. That's when they got their real-world, four-passenger performance of 65 miles-per-gallon at 65 miles-per-hour.
`Hyades' will be one of nine hybrid EVs at the NESEA American Tour de Sol, starting May 17th in Waterbury Connecticut. If you would like to meet some of the people inventing the future of transportation, come join us.
Report #7: Team Profile: Hopper EV
Tom Hopper has brought his single-person, 3-wheeled `Hopper EV' to each of the past 4 NESEA Tours, and each time it has been significantly different from the previous appearance.
In the 1996 Tour from New York City to Washington DC, `Hopper EV' was a bio- diesel hybrid, with a 2-wheeled trailer containing 5 usable gallons of fuel, a small diesel engine and a generator. It was a series-hybrid, where the fuel- generated electricity was used to either charge the batteries or run the electric motor, and the electric motor moved the car down the road. With this arrangement, Tom estimates he was getting 300 to 400 miles per tank of fuel (60-80 miles-per-gallon) and the vehicle was consuming between 90 and 100 Watt- hours-per-mile. For the first few days of the Tour proper, the fuel was pure soybean oil (which made the exhaust smell somewhat like fried food). But later in the week it got a bit chilly and the oil started to gel, so Tom added about 20% petroleum diesel to the mix to give it somewhat better cool-weather properties. He hears that mixing of bio-diesel and petro-diesel is common as people try to come up with a mixture that has an acceptable exhaust odor, acceptable pollution numbers, and acceptable performance. But he isn't paying much attention to bio-diesel this year. Why?
Because `Hopper EV' is about to get an engine/generator that burns methanol. Tom and Randy Kezar, a mechanic and student at New Hampshire Technical Institute where Tom teaches, are adapting a 90 cc Honda overhead-cam motorcycle engine so it can burn either methanol or gasoline. It will have two carburetors, one for each fuel. The engine has had its transmission removed and will directly drive a rare-earth permanent magnet generator to charge the batteries. The final decisions were not made when we spoke in mid-April, but the intent was to mount the engine/generator directly on the vehicle instead of having a trailer. Using methanol is not an economic decision. With half the heat energy per volume as gasoline, and costing twice as much per volume as gasoline, it will be four times more expensive to run. But methanol is one of the fuels that people say could help decrease air pollution, so I'm not all that surprised to see Tom trying it.
What > did < surprise me was that in addition everything else Tom's doing, `Hopper EV' is about to become a two-person car. Before the driver sat sort-of astride the battery box which ran down the middle of the vehicle. Now the car is 5 feet 2 inches wide in the front and the two riders will sit with the battery box between them. The single rear wheel has been changed to two, but they are only 18 inches apart and Tom says there will not be a differential because "the wheels are so close together I don't worry about the tires scrubbing." The motor and controller are the same Solectria AC induction motor and Universal Motor Controller (UMoC) as last year, but the toothed-belt drive has a new drive ratio to lower the torque about 5%. Tom felt he might have too much torque when he busted a Kevlar belt.
The following statistics have to be taken as somewhat preliminary, I think, as the vehicle was not yet assembled when we spoke.
Vehicle Number 94 Category US DOE HYBRID CATEGORY Vehicle Name Hopper EV Range 60 miles EV, 300 miles HEV Max Speed 75 mph Weight 1350 lbs Car Dimensions 10' x 5' 2" x 4' 4" # of Passengers 2 Useful Load 475 lbs Construction Purpose-built; Aluminum Motor Solectria; AC Induction; 21 kW cont. PV Array 100 w; AstroPower; Monocrystalline Batteries Optima/460lbs; VRSA Spiral Core; 5000 w-hrs 144 v; Series Controller Solectria; UMOC Tires; Wheels Michelin/Yokohama, 145/75R13; 4 Brakes Hydraulic disk front; Hydraulic disk rear; Solectria UMoCregenThe `Hopper EV' represents another aspect of the NESEA American Tour de Sol I enjoy so much. Along with the prototypes and commercially produced vehicles from the corporations, and the wonderful team efforts from the schools and clubs, we also see the efforts of individuals who also advance the state of the art. And it will be just one of over 40 innovative vehicles at this year's NESEA Tour. As they say, "Well worth the trip."
Report #8: Team Profile: Sungo
(The following is based on a conversation with Tom Hopper, faculty advisor to the NHTI Solar-Electric Car Team.)
The New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI) in Concord has had at least one vehicle all the eight previous NESEA American Tours de Sol. `Sungo' will be back again after picking up a pile of honors at the last NESEA Tour and after setting a new unofficial record for Electric Vehicles (EVs) that have climbed Mount Washington. This small, cute commuter vehicle still has its twin permanent magnet motors and controllers each driving the rear wheels. An electronic differential keeping the power delivered balanced for good handling. It is about 230 pounds lighter this year, in spite of the fact that the plastic windshield has been changed to glass. I suspect the weight loss is because they have exchanged the 2 strings of lead-acid batteries it ran last year for a single string of Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries from Ovonic. With the lighter weight, they hope to consume much less than the quite respectable 90 Watt-hours-per-mile they got last year. With luck it could be as low as 75 Wh/mile. They would not be surprised if they achieved 150 or even 170 miles per charge. Less weight should also improve handling.
Like all of the advanced batteries, NiMH cells are not very tolerant of being overcharged. So the 220 Volt ac BADICHEQ battery management system that was used last year has been modified to properly handle the NiMH pack. The BADICHEQ can measure the voltage of each battery module separately as they charge and discharge, and thus can detect a module that is "out of balance" with the rest of the pack. It also has an auxiliary power supply so it can add extra current to the out of balance modules to keep them at the same state of charge as the rest of the string. The result is a "happy" battery pack that gives the best possible performance. And if a module is failing BADICHEQ and call it out for replacement.
The team has also learned that while the NiMH chemistry works well when cold, it is very sensitive to high temperatures and requires an aggressive cooling system. Battery compartment cooling is proving to be a fairly big part of the project this year.
Vehicle Number 72 Category COMMUTER CATEGORY Vehicle Name Sungo Team Name NHTI Solar-Electric Car Team Range 150 miles Max Speed 75 mile-per-hour Weight 1300 lbs Car Dimensions 8' 10" x 5' 0" x 6'" # of Passengers 2 Useful Load 560 lbs Construction Purpose-built; Aluminum; Fiberglass Motors 2 Solectria; Brushless DC; Total = 32 kW cont., 107 kW peak PV Array 96 w; AstroPower; Monocrystalline Batteries Ovonic/380lbs; NiMH; 13.2 kW-hrs/ 120 v; Series Controller Solectria; Mosfet Tires; Wheels Continental; 135 70R-13; 4 Brakes Honda ATV 4-trax ; Honda ATV 4-trax ; Solectria regen
Report #9: Team Profile: `Connecticut EV/NAVC'
The NESEA American Tour de Sol is not a race in the usual sense. Getting there first is not the point. To me, it is a traveling celebration of the potential (that's a pun if you want it to be) and the reality of electrically powered transportation in America and the world. NESEA is particularly interested in entrants which demonstrate the environmental benefits of electric vehicles in a practical package and that can meet every-day needs.
The team sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, The Rideshare Company, and the Northeast Alternative Vehicle Consortium (NAVC) provides such a demonstration. They are back for their third run with Number 50, a 1995 Solectria Force with Electrosource Horizon batteries. They may have the oldest Solectria vehicle in the NESEA Tour this year. The car is a 1995 body style, but uses 1994 technology - the old belt drive Solectria used before they developed an enclosed gear box. As such, it shows that even older EV technology still performs to meet today's needs.
The people on the team are David Fabricatore of The Rideshare Company, a non- profit commuter service organization (http://www.rideshare.com), and James Sime and John Hudson of the Connecticut Department of Transportation's research facility.
The Rideshare Project currently has 5 Forces on the road in Connecticut being used day-in and day-out as commuter cars. As David said, "everyday people are using the vehicles to get to and from work. Isn't that one of the reasons we are doing the Tour de Sol - to show people that these things actually work? We've logged over 53,000 miles on the 5 vehicles since June of 1995. Some of the vehicles have 15,000 miles on them," depending on the route.
They have web pages at http://www.rideshare.com/ev/default.htm which include some technical data showing how their energy usage is affected by temperature and distance traveled.
They are planning on going up Mt. Washington this year. They want that bumper sticker - "This car climbed Mt. Washington".
Jim and John, who both work at the ConnDOT research facility, performed a valuable service for the NESEA Tour this year. The Drivers' Manual has had elevation and mileage information for several years, but this year it is especially accurate. Using a a highly specialized vehicle that measures everything to do with the road and associates it with locations determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, John lead a three-man team who drove the entire NATdS route and plotted the road grades and elevations mile-by-mile. John's team included David Bowers from ConnDOT and Dan Lewis from NESEA. Their work also contributed to the rally-route instructions the drivers must follow to navigate the route. Remember that the cross-country path the NESEA Tour takes is mostly on secondary and primary highways and that it tends to avoid the Interstate roads. NESEA does everything it can to help the entrants stay on course, but there are still a lot of very detailed instructions that have to be just right if everyone is to find the Finish banner.
Team Name `Connecticut EV/NAVC' Vehicle Name Solectria/Horizon Vehicle Number 50 Category Production Category Range 80 miles Max Speed 65 miles per hour Weight 2325 pounds Car Dimensions 13' 8" x 5' 26" x 4' 7" # of Passengers 4 Useful Load 475 pounds Construction Solectria; steel Motor Solectria; AC GV20; 30 kW continuous/42 kW peak Batteries Electrosource; Sealed PbA; 13,260 W-hrs; 156 V; series Controller Solectria; AC 325GU Brakes Disk front; Drum rear; Solectria regenerative braking Gross Weight 2800 pounds
Report #10: Team Profile: `Wolverine'
There are several hybrid-electric vehicles coming this year's NESEA Tour that were originally built and have already competed in the two-year FutureCar Challenge sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Council for Automotive Research (a joint research venture of Chrysler, Ford, and GM). Part two will be in Warren MI this June 3rd through 11th.
`Wolverine', the entry from the University of Michigan is such a car. Matt Griffin, Business Manager for the FutureCar team, tells some of the story:
"The U-M FutureCar Team is approximately 50 members in total; however, I would estimate that about 60% of that figure actually contribute significantly to the project team. The team is composed of undergraduate students from various disciplines including, but not limited to: mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and computer engineers. The Team is completely student-organized and student- run, with varying levels of leadership. As an SAE project team, we do have full support from the University; however, we have limited faculty representation.
"The great thing about the team is that we can use students from almost any discipline whether s/he be a graphics design student, a business student, or an engineer. I, myself, am not an engineer--I am concentrating in Computer Information Systems and Computer Science, and I have a fairly solid business background to complement the computer background. My main function is to coordinate the efforts of the student fundraisers, maintain sponsor relationships, organize logistics for the competition, and various other administrative issues. As you can see, there are opportunities for everyone.
"Just to give you a little background on the Team, we are participating in the final phase of a two-year competition known as the FutureCar Challenge. We had a rough start in the first phase due to a lack of student commitment and organization; however, this year we have greatly improved and are a strong favorite to take first in the final phase of the competition. We have a much more experienced core team. Most of the members of this year's core team were on the team last year, so we have significantly more loyalty to the cause. Everybody knows what needs to be done and how to do it ... so we're ready to rock!!
"We are quite excited to participate in the Tour de Sol. It'll be a great opportunity for us to give the car a rigorous test run for the Challenge, and it'll be an opportunity for us to show off what we've accomplished thus far. Not to mention the experience of traveling the East Coast!"
Dan Griffin, Project Manager, in Mechanical Engineering at U-of-M, provided some technical information:
"The University of Michigan FutureCar is a parallel-configured hybrid-electric vehicle that uses a 88 hp 1.9L VW TDI (Turbo Direct-Injected) diesel engine and a 30 hp Fisher Brushless DC electric motor. They are attached to a 1996 Ford Taurus 4-speed automatic transmission. The battery pack a 120 volt pack of nickel cadmium batteries from Saft. A programmable controller will be used to control this configuration. The (driving) strategy is hybrid and totally passive, meaning it is all programmed into the controller and the driver does not have to worry about a thing.
"We will employ a regenerative braking system that will allow us to recoup most of the energy lost to friction at the wheels. We will also have an Exhaust Heat Recovery System and a Heat Battery that will both help to reduce emissions. A Heat Battery has the ability to store hot coolant from the engine when the engine is turned off. This coolant can be maintained at a high temperature many days allowing you to pump it back into the engine at the next start up and avoid cold start emissions. An extensive engine off strategy will be implemented as well to improve fuel economy of the vehicle.
"Weight reduction techniques include: <> New PNGV (Partnership for a Next Generation of Vehicles) seats from Lear <> New aluminum brake rotors from Duralcan <> New side windows made of Plexiglas <> New aluminum rims from Hayes Wheels <> New composite hood <> New plastic gas tank from Kautex
"Aerodynamic improvements include new wheel covers."Dan also described the regenerative braking system. Kelsey-Hayes provided the controls which cause the the Fisher electric motor to act as a generator during braking and thus provide a reverse torque on the shaft.
Team Name U. of Michigan Future Car Team Vehicle Name `Wolverine' Vehicle Number 5 Category US DOE Hybrid Category Range 250 miles Max Speed 70 miles per hour Weight 3400 pounds # of Passengers 5 Useful Load 850 Construction 96 Ford Taurus; Steel frame; Steel body Motor Fisher; DC brushless; 22.4 kW continuous/26.1 kW peak Batteries Saft; 320 lbs; Nicad; 40 W-hours; 120 V; Series Controller Fisher Brakes Disk front; Drum rear; Kelsey-Hayes regen Gross Weight 3600 pounds(The weight numbers don't make sense to me. Weight + Useful Load should equal Gross Weight, but ...)
Report #11: Team Profile: `GarnetOne'
The NESEA American Tour de Sol attracts teams of all sizes, ranging from half- a-hundred souls to only a handful. The `GarnetOne' being entered by Swarthmore College is from a team in the "handful" category.
Tom Fennimore tells their story ...
"Our school is for undergraduates only, so we lack a graduate school where more experienced engineering students could aid us. Moreover, our school has only 1300 students and our engineering department has about 25 students per a class. There are only five people working on the project which is very small compared to other groups I have spoken to.
"All five team members are seniors and our plans next year are rather diverse and interesting. One of us will be doing some tuna fishing in the Pacific Ocean. Another will be attending NYU law school. A Big Six accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, hired another member on our team while a Wall Street company, Goldman Sachs, hired another in their Investment Banking Division. The final team member will go on to work in Lockheed Martin's Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) division. How many schools do you know that graduate engineers which enter into such industries as law school, accounting firms, Wall Street, and fishing?
"Two of us were captain of our school's football team, another was captain of the track team, and still another was captain of the lacrosse team. The final member was editor of the school paper.
"Swarthmore College never had an HEV team until this year. The reason is that we are such a small school (1300 students total, 80 engineers) and thus never had the resources, or the desire, to start such a program. Most of the schools in the Tour de Sol, and other HEV competitions, are large universities who can take advantage of not only their large engineering student population, but also their large budgets, to establish such programs. I believe Swarthmore College is the first small college to start such a program.
"This is the story of how the program started. The fall of my junior year (November 1995), Kurk Selverian, a current team member, and myself were talking about our senior design course. Both of us had an interest in automobiles, especially in their future technology. My dad owned an automobile repair shop, so ever since I was six I have worked on cars. We joked about how it would be cool to build an electric vehicle. Since the college never attempted such an endeavor, we went to talk to Prof. Nelson Macken, the current faculty advisor of the project.
"Macken was excited about our idea and suggested that we talk to local universities and corporations who had EV programs and ask them about their experiences, specifically what resources are required, how much effort is needed, how long did the project take, and how much money did it cost. Kurk and I then talked to University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Villanova, and PECO (the electric utility in Philadelphia). Simultaneously, we researched EVs and searched for contests to enter our vehicle in. This is when we first came across the Tour de Sol.
"In mid-March of 1996 we went to the Engineering department and the college outlining our plans to build a EV. After some debate, our proposal was approved and we could begin our work. At this time, Pete Hamilton became interested in the project. Pete has an excellent background in internal combustion engines, and so we decided to expand our project to accommodate Pete's skills and build an HEV instead of an EV. We also decided to compete in the Tour de Sol.
"Our next step was fundraising. All fundraising was done by Kurk, Pete, Nelson, and me. We put together a brief presentation of our idea and went to local corporations and alumni to sell it. Our efforts were rewarded by component donations from PECO, several cash donations from alumni, a generous grant from the school, and the donation of a brand new Chevrolet Beretta from General Motors. This experience provided us with the opportunity to learn valuable presentation, communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills. Frequently we found ourselves speaking to crowds larger than 300 people pitching our ideas. By the summer we had enough money and resources to start ordering components.
"Over the summer we expanded our team to the current size by adding two people, Al Molnar and Tom Makin. Also over the summer we ordered all the parts necessary for our conversion so that when we returned in the fall we could begin construction.
"When we returned to school, our first task was to find a place to work. The college let us use two garages on the periphery of the campus. For the first month, we had to play the role of carpenters and installed drywall, fans, heating, electricity, a telephone, and fixed several leaks. Finally in October we began our construction.
"Right now (mid-April) we are still working on the car, albeit in the final stages. Each of us on the team have put in extraordinary hours -- averaging about 30 hours per a week per a person. We have done all this while still taking a full course load. Last night, for example, we stayed up until 4 a.m. working on the car."
So here is a project that has been going on for over a year-and-a-half! It will be interesting to see what a small, tight-knit team can do against the larger ones.
Team Name Swarthmore College Vehicle Name GarnetOne Vehicle Number 62 Category US DOE Hybrid Category Range 150 miles Max Speed 75 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Useful Load 350 pounds Construction 96 Chevy Beretta; Steel frame; Steel body Motor Advanced DC; FBI-401-A; 20.9 kW cont./59.6 kW peak PV Array 10 w; Solanex; Batteries Trojan/1200 lbs; PbA; 16,200 W-hrs/120 V; Series Controller Curtis; 1221B-7401 Tires; Wheels Ameri; G 4s; 4 Brakes Disk front; Drum rear; no regenerative braking Gross Weight 3700 pounds
Report #12: Team Profile: `Project e-'
One of the great joys of this hobby of mine, being the reporter for the NESEA Tour, is that I get to meet so many teams year after year and see how things have progressed. `Project e-' (pronounced Eee Minus) started as a pure EV, and then became a hybrid in 1995. Because this project has been going on for half- a-decade, it has improved and become more capable each year. I look forward to seeing what they have done this year.
The students on the team have changed, as they graduate, but the enthusiasm is infectious and is passed along from the upper class to those who follow them. In time, these "kids" will be among those adults who change the world.
Stacey Curtis, a Senior at Mount Everett, sent along this information ...
"The `Project e-' team started five years ago with a S-10 pickup and the heart and dedication of student and staff of Mount Everett High School. The project never lacked enthusiasm or support from the surrounding communities. Every year students work on the electric truck doing everything from fund raising to the actual hands on mechanical work.
"In May the truck and a team of students and advisors leave the area and participate in the Tour De Sol. While the team is away the school and community stay tuned to area radio stations to hear the latest updates and cheer the team on. `Project e-' has brought the community and the students together as one in the fight to help our planet. The communities have become more aware of the continuing effort to make our air cleaner and the team has full support in doing so. Without their support the team would not be what it is today. We could not ever replace their continued support and we are looking forward to another exciting year in participating in the Tour De Sol.
"Vehicle Specifications
Make Chevy Model S-10 Year 1985 Transmission 4 speed manual, 4:56 rear end gear change Steering Converted from power to manual Motor 28 HP DC brush motor Hybrid Motor Kohler propane 22HP (12 KW output) Alternator Fisher 3 phase (12 KW, 120 Volts, 92 amps) Batteries 120 Volts DC (20 six volt batteries, 350 amps) Secondary Power Sources Two 50 watt solar panels Regenerative Braking 30 amp alternator with electric clutch Charge Time 6-8 hours for full charge Range 300+ miles Top Speed 70 miles/hour
Team
Bob Fedell senior, co-pilot Jake Dupont senior, driver Jason Cross junior B. J. Law senior Robert Martin junior Stacey Lee Curtis senior Jeremy Van Deusen senior Arthur Batacchi advisor Stan Dupont advisor Paul O'Brien Tech Ed. Dept. Head"
This information is from the NESEA database of entrants:
Team Name Mount Everett Project e- Vehicle Name `Project e-' Vehicle Number 96 Category US DOE Hybrid Category Organization Mount Everett Regional School Town Sheffield MA Dimensions 16' 0" x 5' 0" x 5' 0" Weight 3900 pounds Range 250 miles Max Speed 70 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Capacity 900 pounds Construction 85 Chevy S-10; steel frame; steel/Lexan body Motor Advanced DC 9", brush, 13 kW continuous/15 kW peak Controller Curtis Model 1221B Charger Fisher/Kohler PV array no Battery US Battery, 1340 lbs, PbA, 27 kW-hrs, 120 V, Series Wheels, Tires 4, Goodyear Invicta GFE Brakes front disk, rear drum, regen
Report #13: Michael Shnayerson to speak at Tour de Sol
It would be nice if the history books could be written first, and then people would just do what the books said. Edison would invent the light bulb, and Ford would invent the car, and Edison would invent the nickel-iron battery, and together they would invent the electric car, and automobile exhaust would never be a problem. I read somewhere that is how it was supposed to be. In fact, at the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey, you can see an electric car that Thomas Edison and company built. (973-243-9122)
Somehow history doesn't work that way.
Instead, people observe what actually does happen and write about that. Michael Shnayerson was able to be an eye-witness to the creation of the GM EV1, and he wrote about it in his book, "The Car That Could: the inside story of GM's revolutionary electric vehicle" (Random House, 1996, ISBN 0-679-42105-X). I had long suspected that GM never had a single agenda when it came to EVs, and I was happy to discover that I was right. The story was far more elaborate, convoluted and interesting than I ever imagined.
So you can see how I am excited at the opportunity to hear Mr. Shnayerson speak at the NESEA American Tour de Sol when it stops in Northhampton MA on Monday May 20th. His talk is scheduled for 6 PM in the auditorium of the Smith Vocational High School, on Locust Street in Northhampton.
Between 2 PM and 6, the entrants will either be on display on the high school's grounds or running "extra laps" to build mileage for the range-per-charge and total-distance prizes. The lap route takes them right past the school, so you can see them as they whisper by. If you are in the area, why not plan to visit? If you cannot make it on the afternoon of the 20th, get there early on the 21st to see the rally continue at 10 AM.
Report #14: Climbing Mount Washington
(The following is from conversations with Paul Giblin, Director of Marketing and Special Events for the Mt. Washington Auto Road, Tom Hopper of the New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI), and Olaf Bleck of Team New England (TNE).)
As part of this year's NESEA Tour, there will be a Climb to the Clouds event, but it will not be a race and it will not be timed. Instead it will be a parade of EVs and Hybrid EVs to demonstrate that clean vehicles can do the same things that today's fuel-burners can do.
But it is not a competition. That happens in June.
The Climb-To-The-Clouds is a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) event each June that looks for the fastest time to drive the 7.4 mile road up Mount Washington. There are 70 turns on the way up and the elevation rises 4700 feet. (The next one, titled "The Audi-Mt. Washington Hill Climb" is scheduled for June 27 through 29, 1997.) It is a professionally run race for SCCA members only. The organizers place heavy emphasis on the safety requirements that must be met by the vehicles and drivers. Only the entrants to the SCCA sanctioned race can hold official records. The last automobile record, set by 3-time winner Paul Choiniere in a Hyundai, was 6 minutes, 45.22 seconds. There are also records for bicyclists and foot-racers.
For the past few years, during intermissions in the official runs, several Electric Vehicles (EV) have been allowed to run the course and obtain unofficial times. In 1994, Andrew Heafitz of Team New England drove the `TNE II' to a 16 minutes 11.10 seconds finishing time, averaging 27.4 mph over the course. And in June 1996 NHTI's `Sungo', was driven by Corina Kern of NHTI in 13 minutes 55.46 seconds.
NHTI's `Sungo' will be in the NESEA Tour again this year, and Team New England will be represented by their `1959 Berkeley'. Both will be running on nickel metal hydride batteries.
Paul Giblin would like to see EVs and other alternative fuel vehicles participate in the official Mt. Washington Climb race, but he emphasizes the need for all entrants to pass the same technical and driver experience requirements. Those interested should call him at 603-466-3328. There is also a "Climb to the Clouds Custom and Classic Car Show" on June 28th. He would welcome a showing of electric vehicles for that also.
Report #15: Final Itinerary
1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol Final ItineraryHere it is folks, hot of the web page at
http://www.crest.org/clients/nesea/rally.htmlThe Public-Is-Invited portions of the NESEA Tour.
(Do not look at http://www.nesea.org/rally.html; it is very out-of-date!)
First, if you are coming as a group, all Press, School Tours, Sponsors, Speakers, Exhibitors should go to "NESEA Central" to check in.
- - - - - - - - - 17 May: SaturdayWATERBURY, CT - LIBRARY PARK & GRAND STREET
9:00AM - 5:00PM Registration & Testing - Gazebo, Library Park 12:00NOON - 5:00PM Vehicle Display and Testing at the Waterbury Super-Charged Solarbration 12:00NOON - 11PM Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College: Open house to five pm.
- - - - - - - - - 18 May: SundayWATERBURY, CT - LIBRARY PARK & GRAND STREET
9:00AM 5 km run: Libra Running Club. Start on Grand Street. All welcome! 9:00AM - 5:00PM Vehicle Display and Testing at the Waterbury Super-Charged Solarbration 9:00AM - 5:00PM Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College: Open house
- - - - - - - - - 19 May: MondayCT TO MA - WATERBURY TO NORTHAMPTON
ROUTE: From downtown Waterbury follow 69N (Rutledge & Wolcott Streets) thru Wolcott towards Britol. Right on 72N to 229 to 6E to 10N. Continue on 10N thru Farmington, Avon, Wheatogue, Simsbury, Hoskins, Granby, Southwick (MA), Westfield, Southampton and Easthampton to Northampton. (69 required miles plus extra laps)
9:30AM - 11:00AM Alternative Vehicle Workshop: Library, basement meeting room, organized by CCTA (Connecticut Clean Transportation Association) 8:00AM - 12:00PM Vehicle Display, Library Park and Grand St., Waterbury, CT 12:00NOON Move to Grand Street in starting order 12:30PM - 1:00 Starting Ceremonies 1:00PM - 2:45PM Drive to Northampton MA 2:30PM - 6:00PM Vehicle Display at Smith Vocational High School, Northampton MA 6:00-6:30 Michael Shnayerson, author of "The Car That Could", Cafeteria, Smith Vocational High School, Locust Street
- - - - - - - - - 20 May: TuesdayMA TO VT - NORTHAMPTON MA TO GREENFIELD MA TO BELLOWS FALLS VT
ROUTE: From Smith Voc., follow 5 and 10N thru W. Hatfield, N. Hatfield, S. Deerfield and Deerfield to Greenfield display. From Greenfield 5N thru Bernardston, N. Bernardston, Guilford, Brattleboro, Putney and Westminster to Bellows Falls display and recharge. From Bellows Falls 5N thru Ascutney, Windsor, Hartland and N. Hartland to White River Junction. (107 required miles. 62 miles to Bellows Falls plus 45 miles to White River Junction)
8:00AM - 10:30AM Vehicle Display at Smith Vocational HS, Northampton MA 10:30AM - 11:00AM Restart Ceremonies and drive to Greenfield MA 10:00AM - 2:00OPM Ecological Living Fair, Miles Street, Greenfield MA 11:00AM - 1:00PM Vehicle Display on Miles St. at NESEA headquarters, Greenfield, MA 1:00PM - 2:00PM Restart Ceremonies and Drive to Bellows Falls VT 1:00PM - 2:30PM Vehicle Display, Union HS, Bellows Falls VT 1:45PM - 2:00PM Media Event 5:30PM - 6:30PM Drive Bellows Falls to White River Junction 5:00PM - 8:30PM Montshire Museum: EV Rides offered by EVermont and Green Mountain Power 7:00PM Authors Noel Perin and Mr. O'Connor, and Richard Watts of EVermont will speak.
- - - - - - - - - 21 May: WednesdayVT TO NH - WHITE RIVER JUNCTION TO LINCOLN
ROUTE: From downtown White River Junction follow 4E to Lebanon. 10N thru Hanover, Lyme, Orford, Piermont, Haverhill and N. Haverhill to Rt. 112E thru N. Woodstock to Loon Mt. Resort in Lincoln. (69 required miles plus extra laps. 35 mile lap on Rt 93S or 5 mile lap on secondary road)
8:00AM - 10:15AM Vehicle Display and media event, downtown White River Junction 10:15AM - 12:00NOON Restart Ceremonies and drive to Loon Mountain Resort, Lincoln NH 10:00AM - 1:00PM Northern New Hampshire Junior Solar Sprint Race, Loon Mountain Tennis Courts 12:00PM - 5:30PM Vehicle Display, Loon Mountain Resort, Lincoln NH
- - - - - - - - - 22 May: ThursdayNH - NORTH CONWAY VIA KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY
ROUTE: From Loon Mountain Resort take 112E to Bear Notch Rd., then 302E. thru Bartlett, Glen and Lower Bartlett to N. Conway Center. (41 required miles plus optional Mt. Washington drive to the summit, weather permitting)
10:00AM - 11:00AM Restart and drive the Kancamagus Hwy to North Conway 11:00AM - 7:30PM Vehicle Display at "A Day in the Sun" Festival, Schouler Park, N. Conway 4:00PM - 7:00PM Mt. Washington hill climb for selected vehicles (weather permitting)Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Climb; Optional Event, Thursday, May 22
The Mount Washington Carriage Road, the oldest man-made tourist attraction in America, was opened to the public in 1861 and has since been the means by which over 3,000,000 people have reached the summit of the Northeast's highest peak. Very few, however, have ever done so in an electric vehicle. While no "Tour miles" will be awarded for this achievement, successful candidates will have one of the finest photo opportunities since F.O. Stanley made the first motorized ascent in his famous Steamer in 1899. That "This Car Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker wouldn't look too bad on your bumper, would it?
Mount Washington's climate is described, without exaggeration, as "the worst weather in the world". Our plans will be contingent on winds somewhat calmer than the record 231 mph. and a winter's snowfall a bit lass than the record 47 feet. Extra charging time will be available for the brave takers-on before leaving North Conway, and participating vehicles will be expected to get there under their own power.
21 miles each way to base of Auto Road from N. Conway Auto road is 7.6 miles from base to top Average grade is 12% Maximum grade is 18% 65% asphalt, 35% packed gravel Elevation at the base: 1563 feet Elevation at the summit: 6288 feet
- - - - - - - - - 23 May: FridayNH TO ME - NORTH CONWAY TO PORTLAND
ROUTE: From N. Conway take 302E thru Redstone, Conway Center and Fryeburg to 113S thru Brownfield, Hiram, W. Baldwin, E. Baldwin and Steep Falls to 25E through Standish and Gorham to 114E to 22E into Portland. (62 required miles)
10:00AM - 11:40AM N. Conway Restart and drive to Monument Square, Portland ME 12:15PM - 12:45PM Finish Line Ceremonies - Invited dignitaries speak 11:30AM - 4:00PM Vehicle Display, Monument Square, Portland ME
- - - - - - - - - 24 May: SaturdayME - THE MAINE SOLAR BLAST, DOWNTOWN PORTLAND
8:00AM - 9:00AM Autocross inspection and registration 9:00AM - 3:00PM Maine Solar Blast at Commercial, Center and Fore Streets (bike demos, exhibits, more!) 9:00AM - 1:00PM Vehicle Display and Autocross for NESEA Tour 10:00AM - 2:30PM Junior Solar Sprints, 1:30PM - 2:30PM Electrathon, 3:00PM - 4:00PM NESEA American Tour de Sol Awards Ceremony.
- - - - - - - - -As in years past, yours truly will be traveling with the rally, inteviewing the teams, observing and noting, and posting items during the event. Last year, they had me doing stints at the microphone, usually at the FINISH banner of each leg, describing the entrants as they arrived. So if you see an over- weight, bearded, late forty-something guy who either is sticking a tape recorder in people's faces or hogging the mic at the finish line, it's probably me. Stop by and say hello.
Mike Bianchi
Report #16: Interview: Nancy Hazard, Race Director
Nancy Hazard spends half her professional life making the NESEA American Tour de Sol happen. (The other half goes into putting together the Sustainable Transportation/Solar Electric Vehicle (ST/SEV) conference every fall.) I caught up with her in the middle of Library Park in Waterbury CT on the first day (Saturday, May 17th) and asked her what she was looking forward to in this year's Tour.
She was very happy that Toyota was bringing their `RAV4-EV' and entering it in the Production Category, because it represents another electric vehicle that will be on the market soon. It joins the Ford `Ecostar' and two Solectria `Force' cars in the rally, and Ford is expected to bring a `Ranger EV' to display when we get to Portland Maine on Friday and Saturday.
She is also excited that there are so many advanced chemistry batteries coming. Four will be running Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydrid (NiMH) batteries (#76 `Solectria Force NiMH', #88 `Evolution', #72 `Sungo', #35 `Hyades'), plus #99 `RAV4-EV' will have Panasonic NiMH batteries, and #79 `59 Berkeley' will have Lockheed NiMH batteries. #55 `Ecostar' has a Sodium-Sulfur system. #50 `95 Solectria/Horizon' has Electrosource's Horizon battery.
Nancy is also happy about the trends that the NESEA Tour is showing. People tend to focus on the records set in terms of individual vehicles achieving some benchmark or another. But over the years there have been improvements in the averages also. For example, four years ago the average miles-per-charge in the Production Category was 95 miles. In 1996 the average was 140 miles. She expects that number to increase again this year.
The US DOE Hybrid Category is our largest field ever with seven vehicles and some of those showing up have proven capabilities because they were already part of the FutureCar Challenge.
There are several interesting comparison tests this year. For the past two years a gasoline-powered Geo Metro drove the course with the EVs, so we could get an apples-to-apples comparison of the efficiencies of gasoline vs. electric powered vehicles. This was particularly valid as the Solectria sedans are based on Geo Metro platforms. This year we will have the Metro, plus a gasoline RAV4 for another apples-to-apples comparison. A particularly fun comparison, if the weather permits, will be to compare the costs of driving up and down Mt. Washington.
On top of that, Solarex, the solar cell company, and ENRON, the power company, are providing a vehicle that will drive the route measuring the sunlight so we see how well the cars in the Solar Commuter Category are doing. That category awards prizes for deriving the largest portion of their power from the sun, referred to as the Solar Fraction. Last year, the `Sol Survivor IV' won with 30%, even though the car was not quite completed. It returns to defend its title.
The One Person Category has four bicycles in it this year. One, #12 `Charger Bicycle', is backed by AeroVironment and is being sold to police departments as an urban patrol vehicle. Another, #15 `Yankee Pedler', is designed to be sold as a kit that can be assembled by high school students. In fact, a motor workshop run by the Yankee Pedlers and Wellington Electric will be run at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, May 20th at the Smith Vocational High School as part of the morning display in Northampton MA.
This is the ninth NESEA Tour, and almost everything is going very smoothly. Nancy was smiling broadly as she surveyed the field of entrants arriving.
Report #17: Registration and Testing in Waterbury CT
Before the NESEA Tour can begin its ramble through the New England countryside, there is a considerable amount of work that must be done to ensure that all the vehicles are ready. For the Production Category vehicles, this tends to be simple. But just about everything else here is a one-of-a-kind object, and there is a long list of criteria that must be checked. Some items on that list are for documentation, but most have to do with some aspect of safety. Can the car accelerate quickly enough? Can it stop within an acceptable distance, both with the regular service brakes and with the emergency brakes? Are there any electrical leaks that could be dangerous? Do the lights and horn work? The list goes on and on.
And passing the tests is not always easy. Significant voltage can appear on the frame just because the battery tops were a little dirty or even because they were washed. Stop lights that were working last week can go out, either because a wire was disturbed, or because a bulb blew.
And there are judgment calls. Gary Carr, who has served on the race organizing committees and has a long-standing interest in EV safety, told me Sunday of a vehicle that had a couple of single-point-of-failure concerns. Using cables to actuate brakes in a car have become a problematic and now are forbidden in the rules. But one team overlooked that and now trying to fabricate an acceptable hydraulic brake for their rear wheel. In addition, there is a point in the frame where one member is welded in a T with another. If this T broke, a whole wheel would come off. Can they add the proper bracing before the rally starts on Monday? We will see.
But the good news is that most teams come very well prepared. They go through the "scrutineering" process very smoothly. In fact, for the first time, the rules now awards points for Engineering Excellence that acknowledges some of the things that make testing go smoothly. There are points awarded for Neatness and Safety Features, Design Innovations and Cleaver Construction, and even Artistic Merit. To some extent these points are based on qualitative and subjective judgments, but it was felt they were necessary so those teams which clearly did their home-work in preparing for the race had an advantage over those who did not.
Saturday was a chilly and often overcast or drizzly day in Waterbury, and so there were not as many visitors to the Library Park as one might hope. The vehicles started arriving just as the many volunteers were sorting out who would be in which testing position. Each car moved from station to station, first being checked for those things that are easily done and which are most crucial; checks involving paperwork, safety equipment, construction details and electric faults are covered first. Then come checking the photovoltaic panels, weighing the car, and evaluating the "practicality" features. Finally there are the dynamic tests measuring braking distances, acceleration, handling (avoiding cones), and hill climbing.
Sunday, which was much more spring like, brought out many more people and made the inspections and testing a bit easier. The bright sun made it easier to see inside the darker corners under the hood, and consistently dry streets helped get a better sense of stopping distances.
Monday morning will have the vehicles on display, and then at 1 PM the 1997 NESEA American Tour de Sol will officially begin with the cars, trucks and bicycles starting their 69 mile drive to Northampton MA.
Report #18: Team Profile: Ford `Ecostar'
Tracy Piorkowski of Northeast Utilities (NU) was talking about the Ford `Ecostar', Number 55, which is entered in the Production Category. This vehicle is back for its 4th appearance with the NESEA Tour. When we don't see it, it and another are used for public relations purposes and special events, such as being the pace car for a electric car race NU cosponsors for high school and college students.
The vehicle itself is a conversion of a European delivery van. There is a passenger and driver seat, and a good sized cargo area.
The `Ecostar' runs the very high energy density Sodium Sulfur batteries and first ran in the 1994 NESEA tour. It's competition at the time was the earliest of the larger prototype Nickel Metal Hydride batteries that Solectria had in a `Force', but could not race in the Production Category because it was not for sale or lease. `Ecostar' won the Production Category in 1994.
(This technical information is from my 1994 NESEA Tour reports.)
Sodium Sulfur boasts 80 Wh/kg; about 4 times lead-acid. The battery operatesat 600 degrees F (~300 deg. C). If the batteries are charged and discharged in a steady use cycle, the batteries retain that temperature. If, however, they are not used for a long time, the battery goes dormant, or "freezes". It takes 12 hours to reheat the battery back to operating temperature. In the Ecostar, it takes 2-4 days for the pack to "freeze", depending on outside air temperature. The charging circuitry automatically maintains both charge and temperature. A single cell provides about 1.9 Volts. The cells in the Ecostar are long thin tubes, about 14 inches high.Since then, the Sodium Sulfur battery has been abandoned by Ford for EV use, although Charles King told me that Ford was still giving excellent support for the `Ecostars' still in service.
NU is also involved with other EV programs. For example, United Airlines is placing electric tugs (those flat vehicles with the big tires used to push jets around) and belt baggage loaders built by a company called Carrington at Bradley Airport.
Vehicle Name `Ford Ecostar' Vehicle Number 55 Category Production Category Team Name Northeast Utilities Town Hartford CT Dimensions 13' 9" x 5' 5" x 5' 4" Weight 3060 pounds Range 100 miles Max Speed 70 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Capacity 1020 pounds Construction Ford Ecostar, steel frame, steel body Motor GE AC Induction 30 kW continuous/56 kW peak Controller General Electric Model IGBT Charger Ford 5.7 kw PV array imbedded in windshield, powers cabin fan Battery ABB NaS 30 kW-hrs Wheels, Tires 4, Firestone Brakes front disk, rear drum, regen
Report #19: Team Profile: `UEHS Solar Tiger'
Scott Brazinski, a student at Union Endicott High School, told me about `UEHS Solar Tiger'.
Their school has been working on it for four years and it finally came together this year. This is a classic three-wheel rolling "wing" design, with just enough room for a driver under a plastic bubble, although this "bubble" is very rectangular and the driver can sit up straight.
The front wheels are two motorcycle front forks welded to the frame, with a steering arm bolted on, actuated by a rack-and-pinion steering from a Chevy mini-van. The back wheel is a motorcycle rear wheel.
8 6-Volt deep cycle lead acid batteries (Trojan) are charged by a 300 Watt solar array. A Curtis controller then drives a 6 hp motor. 2 panels of the solar array are dedicated to charging the 12 Volt battery used for the accessories. The rest of the array charges the 48 Volt drive system batteries.
Welded steel box tubing forms the main structural frame of the car. Electrical "thin wall" conduit is bent to shape and supports the body. The body is shaped aluminum that supports fiberglass and filler that is then sanded and painted.
Scott said that they have many miles running around the track at school without the body for testing, and about 80 miles with the body mounted. It is registered in New York State as a motorcycle, with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and license plate.
I also spoke with Azuka Nzegwu, originally from Nigeria, who has been with the team for two years. She does all the writing for the club's publicity, newsletters, and press releases to newspapers and radio stations. She will be sending home news and progress reports during the week. "Our community has been very supportive with this Tour de Sol. They have been really great," she said.
What do they expect to get out of being here? "We are here to learn." Azuka said the team sees their participation in the NESEA Tour as a great opportunity to see how the other teams solve problems and to look for new ideas.
The time is 9 kids and 3 advisors. She is the only girl in the club, so she hopes to meet young women on the other teams.
Vehicle Name `UEHS Solar Tiger' Vehicle Number 37 Category One Person Category Organization Union-Endicott High School Team Name Union-Endicott Solar Tiger Town Endicott NY Dimensions 15' 3" x 5' 9" x 5' 10" Weight 1080 pounds Range 100 miles Max Speed 55 miles per hour # of Passengers 1 Capacity 150 pounds Construction Purpose-built steel, tube frame, Fiberglass body Motor Advanced DC, series wound, Controller Curtis Charger Off-board, Trace Engineering PV array Solarex 300 Watts Battery Trojan/480 lbs, PbA 48 V, series Wheels, Tires 3, Cooper Street Brakes front drum, rear drum, no regen PR Description Purpose-built (Trojan, PbA)
Report #20: Days 1, 2, and 3 Range Results
(For those of you who have been waiting and waiting for postings from the NESEA Tour course, my apologies. The old adage of "never let anything mechanical know you are in a hurry" came through with a vengeance, and my computer suddenly refused to acknowledge the presence of the modem. The result was that I was isolated. But I have been conducting interviews and collecting information, and so the Reports will be coming, just not in semi-real time as was intended. I hope you still find them interesting reading. My intention is to post final results soon, and then catch up over the next couple of weeks on Team Profiles, Interviews, and Stories from the course.)
The following table serves two purposes. The first is to document the rally so far.
Day 1 was Monday, 19 May 1997. Day 2 was Tuesday, 20 May 1997. Day 3 was Wednesday, 21 May 1997.The Test column lists "Tour Miles" awarded during the testing, which is new this year. In past years the inspection and testing before the NESEA Tour didn't award any credit that lasted past the first day. Cars were lined up for driving under the Start Banner, by category, with the best accelerating vehicles first, and that didn't really impart any advantage since each vehicle is timed independently. This year, the various testing and inspection crews awarded "Tour Miles" according to how easily they passed.
The Driven numbers, Total and for each Day, show the actual distance traveled.
The Tour numbers are "Tour Miles". 1 Tour Mile is awarded for each mile driven, but then there are deductions for various infractions. Some infractions have to do with traffic safety, such as obstructing traffic, passing illegally, speeding, etc. Others are penalties for not covering the course in the maximum allowed time, not completing a leg, being late for a required display, and the like.
The table is sorted by the "Total Tour" number, within each category.
The second purpose of this table is to discuss some of the range records achieved in this year's NESEA Tour. Those comments are after the table, keyed to the Note column.
These numbers have to be considered unofficial, although they are transcribed from official NESEA printouts. There still may be adjustments, and there also may be typos.
-- Production Category --- Total Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 Num. Vehicle Name Tour Tour Tour Tour Test Note Driven Driven Driven Driven
76 `Solectria Force NiMH' 568.7 249.0 106.7 125.3 87.7 1,3 481.0 249.0 106.7 125.3
55 `Ford Ecostar' 509.6 197.3 106.7 121.6 84.0 2 430.6 202.3 106.7 121.6
99 `Toyota RAV4-EV' 415.6 116.5 106.7 99.4 93.0 3 322.6 116.5 106.7 99.4
50 `Solectria/Horizon' 387.4 104.1 106.7 99.4 77.2 310.2 104.1 106.7 99.4
-- Commuter Category --- Total Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 Num. Vehicle Name Tour Tour Tour Tour Test Note Driven Driven Driven Driven
88 `Evolution' 401.3 140.2 71.3 106.8 83.0 3 353.7 140.2 106.7 106.8
72 `Sungo' 383.0 123.3 106.7 92.0 61.0 3 332.0 133.3 106.7 92.0
45 `Sparky' 333.8 78.3 106.7 84.3 64.5 274.7 83.4 106.7 84.6
65 `Electric Hare' 322.6 99.6 101.9 60.9 60.2 4 288.0 104.1 106.7 77.2
79 `59 Berkeley' 305.9 66.9 101.7 67.1 70.2 244.9 68.4 106.7 69.8
44 `Solar Saurus' 296.0 68.4 103.8 69.8 54.0 244.9 68.4 106.7 69.8
60 `Millenium Falcon' 292.7 75.8 81.2 67.2 68.6 259.9 83.4 106.7 69.8
48 `Suncharger' 204.1 40.9 71.1 20.2 71.9 235.1 68.4 106.7 60.0
66 `Re-Charger' 179.2 48.6 -15.9 69.8 76.7 200.8 68.4 62.6 69.8
13 `The Electrifly' 44.4 16.0 -33.9 -9.8 72.1 173.2 57.2 71.0 45.0
33 `Enterprise' -131.3 -79.6 -5.4 -88.8 42.5 84.8 9.4 69.9 5.5
-- Solar Commuter Category --- Total Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 Num. Vehicle Name Tour Tour Tour Tour Test Note Driven Driven Driven Driven
83 `Sol Survivor IV' 59.3 6.2 -29.2 26.2 56.1 177.9 52.3 62.6 63.0
93 `Helios the Heron IV' 41.4 -3.6 -42.5 48.4 39.1 5 179.3 47.4 62.1 69.8
-- US DOE Hybrid Category --- Total Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 Num. Vehicle Name Tour Tour Tour Tour Test Note Driven Driven Driven Driven
18 `Kineticar' 699.5 449.2 88.7 99.4 62.2 6 655.3 449.2 106.7 99.4
94 `Hopper EV' 613.7 342.1 106.3 95.7 69.6 544.5 342.1 106.7 95.7
48 `Electric Lion' 537.1 273.8 95.7 97.4 70.2 484.9 278.8 106.7 99.4
96 `Project e-' 476.6 207.6 106.7 99.4 62.9 413.7 207.6 106.7 99.4
62 `GarnetOne' 244.5 67.5 64.0 67.6 45.4 244.9 68.4 106.7 69.8
14 `Tsunami' -364.9 -98.4 -166.7 -99.8 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
35 `Hyades' -364.9 -98.4 -166.7 -99.8 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
-- One Person Category --- Total Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 Num. Vehicle Name Tour Tour Tour Tour Test Note Driven Driven Driven Driven
12 `Charger Bicycle' 429.2 3.6 106.7 69.8 69.1 227.5 51.0 106.7 69.8
15 `Yankee Pedler' 177.9 83.4 94.4 -53.8 53.9 213.1 83.4 106.7 23.0
58 `NFA Sol Machine' 138.3 -0.4 82.9 6.2 49.6 208.7 49.0 106.7 53.0
92 `Sunpacer' 132.7 15.6 49.7 32.2 35.2 219.7 57.0 96.7 66.0
47 `Electra' -22.4 68.4 -101.1 -42.8 53.1 129.7 68.4 32.8 28.5
10 `V.C. I.C.E. Breaker' -54.5 -9.2 -64.7 -21.8 41.2 134.6 44.6 51.0 39.0
37 `UEHS Solar Tiger' -335.5 -98.4 -166.7 -99.8 29.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
30 `Ecovox' -359.9 -98.4 -166.7 -99.8 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
(The opinions expressed below are my own.)
Note 1
On Day 3 (Wednesday) #76 `Solectria Force NiMH' beat it's own range record from last year by over 5 miles in a much more challenging environment. Last year, this car with earlier versions of the Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride (NMH) battery achieved 244 miles on a charge driving the very flat roads around Chesapeake City, Maryland. Wednesday the same car but with new battery pack, beat that record by driving 250 miles in the trip through the White Mountains between White River Junction NH and Lincoln NH and in the very hill area around Lincoln. James Worden, CEO of Solectria, was at the wheel and certainly used his considerable experience with his own vehicles to squeeze every inch he could out of that car. Still, for a steel frame and body car running in the Production Category, that is quite an achievement.
Note 2
The Ford `Ecostar' did not beat its personal best from last year's NESEA Tour. In 1996, the `Ecostar' from Allegheny Power drove 227 miles in Maryland. This year the one from Northeast Utilities drove 197 miles over the White River Junction to Lincoln route and around Lincoln. Both the 1993 `Ecostar' from Allegheny Power and the 1994 `Ecostar' from Northeast Utilities were using Sodium-Sulfur batteries.
Note 3
The Toyota `RAV4-EV', `Evolution', and `Sungo' are the other 3 passenger cars using Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. The `Solectria Force NiMH' uses a Geo Metro sedan as its platform, which is a low and fairly aerodynamic vehicle. The `RAV4-EV' is based on the RAV4 sport utility vehicle and so is about twice as tall as the `Force'. `Evolution' is built on a Saturn platform, and the `Sungo' is the smallest of the lot, a bit more than half the length and about the same height as the `Force'. According to the data given NESEA and Day 3's numbers ...
Vehicle Batt. Energy Day 3 Range Day 3 Energy/Mile
Force NiMH 25.0 kW-hrs 250 miles 100 W-hrs/mile Evolution 30.0 kW-hrs 140 miles 214 W-hrs/mile Sungo 13.2 kW-hrs 133 miles 99 W-hrs/mile RAV4-EV 28.2 kW-hrs 116 miles 243 W-hrs/mileThis assumes, of course, that all vehicles were driven from a full charge to an near-complete discharge. As in Note 1, remember that these were driven through the White Mountains and in the hills around Lincoln.
Note 4
`Electric Hare', a high school Volkswagon Rabbit conversion based on the kit from ElectroAutomotive in Felton CA drove 104 miles on a 96 Volt system. With 24 kW-hrs on board, that's 230 Watt-hours/mile.
Note 5
The VW microbus converted by elementary school students, `Helios the Heron IV', drove the full Day 1 distance, although it was penalized for being slow, averaging 16 mph. This was the first time a `Helios' had ever arrived at a Tour de Sol FINISH banner under its own power. It > is < possible it got some extra help from the nervous energy of the team members who shreaked their approval as it covered the final yards.
Note 6
`Kineticar', a parallel hybrid, went just shy of 450 miles on a single tank of LPG (Propane). Talking with the team members from Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College I've learned that this figure, while genuine, is a bit high. It seems the safe practice for filling a Propane tank is only put in 80% of the full capacity. However, in cases where the weather is cool and the fuel is going to be used immediately it is common practice to "overfill" the tank to 90% or more. At the fuel stop before the range-run, that is what happened to `Kineticar'. NESEA is only giving credit for 379 miles because the tank had been filled to the 95% mark.
Report #21: The Entrants
Here is the list of entrants that are in the 1997 NESEA Tour, along with some of their general information. They are in Vehicle Number order.
--- Production Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name Town State Organization New this year? Description (Battery Mfr, Chemistry)
50 `Solectria/Horizon' Connecticut EV/NAVC Windsor CT The Rideshare Co./CT DOT returning Solectria Force (Electrosource, PbA)
55 `Ford Ecostar' Northeast Utilities Hartford CT Northeast Utilities returning Ford Ecostar (ABB, Sodium Sulphur)
76 `Solectria Force NiMH' Solectria - Ovonic Battery Troy MI Solectria - Ovonic Battery updated car Solectria Force (Ovonic, NiMH)
99 `Toyota RAV4-EV' Toyota Motor Sales USA Torrance CA Toyota Motor Sales USA new to NESEA Tour RAV4 (Panasonic, NiMH)
--- Commuter Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name Town State Organization New this year? Description (Battery Mfr, Chemistry)
13 `The Electrifly' PTBO Clean Air Challenge Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough Clean Air Challenge new to NESEA Tour Pontiac Firefly (Voltmaster, PbA)
33 `Enterprise' Techies South Portland ME Southern Maine Technical College new to NESEA Tour 1987 Ford Aerostar (Power, PbA)
44 `Solar Saurus' Rocky Hill High School Team Rocky Hill CT Rocky Hill Board of Education returning 1982 Dodge Rampage (Trojan, PbA)
45 `Sparky' Wooster's Charge Danbury CT Wooster School returning 1972 SAAB (Trojan, PbA)
48 `Suncharger' Team Canada Rexdale, Ontario Canada MSSB, Marian Academy High School new to NESEA Tour 1993 Asuna Sunfire (Crown, PbA)
60 `Millenium Falcon' Blue Sky Club Greenwich CT Blue Sky Motors returning 1985 VW Rabbit Cabriolet (Optima, PbA)
65 `Electric Hare' The Wattsmen Falmouth ME Falmouth High School returning 1984 VW Rabbit (Trojan, PbA)
66 `Re-Charger' UNH Chargers West Haven CT University of New Haven new to NESEA Tour 1984 Ford Ranger (Trojan, PbA)
72 `Sungo' NHTI Solar - Electric Car Team Concord NH New Hampshire Technical Institute returning Purpose-built (Ovonic, NiMH)
79 `59 Berkeley' Team New England Nahant MA Team New England returning 1959 Berkeley (Lockheed, NiMH)
88 `Evolution' Chico State AVR&D Chico CA California State University, Chico new to NESEA Tour Saturn (Ovonic, NiMH)
--- US DOE Hybrid Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name Town State Organization New this year? Description (Battery Mfr, Chemistry; Fuel)
14 `Tsunami' Cornell University HEV Team Ithaca NY Cornell University new car Purpose-built sedan (Trojan, PbA; CNG)
18 `Kineticar' CSERT-NVCTC Waterbury CT Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College new car Pick-up (Trojan, PbA; LPG)
35 `Hyades' Lawrence Tech University Southfield MI Lawrence Technology University new to NESEA Tour 1996 Taurus (Ovonic, NiMH; Biodiesel)
48 `Electric Lion' Penn State SAE HEV Team State College PA Pennsylvania State University SAE returning Ford Escort (Exide, PbA; LPG)
62 `GarnetOne' Swathmore College Swathmore PA Swathmore College new to NESEA Tour Chevy Beretta (Trojan, PbA; CNG )
94 `Hopper EV' NHTI Tom Hopper Concord NH New Hampsire Technical Institute new car Purpose-built (Optima, PbA; Methanol)
96 `Project e-' Mount Everett Project e- Sheffield MA Mount Everett Regional School returning Chevy S-10 (US Battery, PbA; LPG)
--- Solar Commuter Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name Town State Organization New this year? Description (Battery Mfr, Chemistry)
83 `Sol Survivor IV' Monadnock Solar Race Car Team Peterborough NH Monadnock Solar Electric Race Car Team returning Purpose-built (Powersonic, PbA)
93 `Helios the Heron IV' Helios the Heron Lyndonville VT Riverside School new car VW Van (East Penn., PbA)
--- One Person Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name Town State Organization New this year? Description (Battery Mfr, Chemistry; Fuel)
10 `V.C. I.C.E. Breaker' V.C. I.C.E. Breakers Walden NY Valley Central High School new to NESA Tour Bicycle (Power Sonic, PbA)
12 `Charger Bicycle' Team Charger Monrovia CA Charger Bicycles new to NESA Tour Bicycle (Panasonic, PbA)
15 `Yankee Pedler' The Yankee Pedlers Torrington CT Wellington Electric Co., Inc. new to NESA Tour Bicycle (Hawker, PbA+NiCad)
30 `Ecovox' Dartmouth Solar Racing Team Hanover NH Dartmouth Solar Racing Team returning Purpose-built hybrid (Diehard, PbA; E-85)
37 `UEHS Solar Tiger' Union-Endicott Solar Tiger Endicott NY Union-Endicott High School Solar Tiger new to NESA Tour Purpose-built (Trojan, PbA)
47 `Electra' PVEAA Wilbraham MA Pioneer Valley Electric Auto Assoc. new to NESEA Tour Bicycle (Panasonic, PbA)
58 `NFA Sol Machine' Team Newburgh NY Newburgh NY Newburgh Free Academy returning Purpose-built (TBA, PbA)
92 `Sunpacer' Cato-Meridian High School Tech Team Cato NY Cato-Meridian High School Tech Team updated car Purpose-built (Ovonic, NiMH)
Report #22: Team Profile: `The Electrifly'
Monte Gisborne is the owner of #13 `The Electrifly' and calls his team the Peterborough (Ontario Canada) Clean Air Challenge. His car is a converted 1991 Geo FireFly 2-seat convertible, which is basically a Geo Metro with a Canadian name plate. "It's an excellent conversion because you have all that space just behind the driver and passenger in which to pack your 18, 6-Volt, monobloc batteries." Voltmaster Group 24 batteries are basically Trojans with a different sticker on them. There are 3 blocs under the front hood, 12 immediately behind the seats, and 3 more between the shock absorber towers. Monte plans to eventually go to a 120 Volt system. "There is actually space left over, if you can believe that!"
Completed about a month ago, the main mission of the car was to get here. After the Tour de Sol it will be Monte's commuter car, and one of the sponsors, the public utility commission of Peterborough, will use it for publicity on off-peak-charging. Another sponsor, a car dealership, will display it, and it will also be in the Santa Claus Parade in November.
Monte is one of the few "individualists" here with a personal vehicle. He has been treasurer of the Electric Vehicle Society in Toronto for 3 years. The car was his gasoline car, and when it approached 200,000 kilometers (about 150,000 miles) and with winter coming on, he decided it would be a good project to convert it to an EV. He wanted to look for sponsors, but he needed an objective that would be a focus of the project. The NESEA Tour was an ideal objective that potential sponsors liked. The Bill Storey auto dealership was the first to get interested. "Bill is retired, and he is an extraordinary auto-nut. He and his family love cars and love racing. He welcomed me with open arms and asked me to please allow him sponsor me." Storey's company completely redid the car body, fixing accident damage, and painted it. Word spread. General Electric, which has a plant in Peterborough since the days of Edison, donated the motor and controller. Then a local battery dealership signed on, and pretty soon Monte had tires, suspension components, etc.
Under the hood is neat and clean. For example, the fuses and relays and wiring blocks are contained in a plastic box with a clear lid and the accelerator potentiometer is completely enclosed. Monte said that his battery box has a double wall, designed for "all weather" operation. In the winter, insulation can be placed between the inner and outer walls to help hold the heat and keep the batteries warm. During the summer, the insulation comes out and air can circulate to keep the batteries from getting too warm.
Monte's team is himself, his mother (60 years old) and father (65), so this entry is a family affair.
Vehicle Name `The Electrifly' Vehicle Number 13 Category Commuter Category Organization Peterborough Clean Air Challenge Team Name PTBO Clean Air Challenge Dimensions 12' 7" x 6' 2" x 4' 5" Weight 2000 pounds Range 80 miles Max Speed 70 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Capacity 500 pounds Construction 1991 Pontiac, steel frame, steel body Motor General Electric, series wound, 25 kW continuous/50 kW peak Controller General Electric Model 1221 Charger Electrocraft Transformerless PV array Innovative Consumer Products, 15 Watts, charges accessory battery Battery Voltmaster, 1040 lb., PbA 18 kW-hrs, 108 V, series Wheels, Tires 4, Goodyear Invicta GL-R Brakes front disk, rear drum, no regenMonte actually came with two EVs. The second is an electric scooter. It looks very much like a two-wheeled child's scooter, with the tall handle bars in front with a headlight, a battery box between the front and back wheels that holds 4 6-Volt blocs, a Curtis controller and a DC motor, and a pair of metal- grid wings on either side of the rear wheel where you stand.
Bolted on top is the metal tray of an old Radio-Flyer wagon. A brass platereads "Created by Barry Huron, Oakwood Ontario, 1997". Monte said, "He lives on a farm and had built a gasoline scooter for his kids. I said, `You should have made it electric!' About a month later he calls me to come down to his shop, and here is this two wheeled contraption that is a rocket! When you are accelerating, it will draw 100 Amps." Several other teams have used it to scoot around getting tools and parts to get ready. Monte claims it has a range of 20 to 30 miles. It does need a horn.
Report #23: Another EVent: Electric Auto Show in Brookline MA
The New England Electric Auto Association is here, in Waterbury, displaying a couple of their vehicles and promoting their own EVent ...
The Third Annual Electric Auto Show at the Museum of Transportation 15 Newton Street, Brookline MA a show open to all Electric and Hybrid powered vehicles, past and present
Saturday, June 7th, 1997 10 AM to 2 PMFor more info:
Bill Ryan 617 254-5882 Ted Werner 860 343-0628 Bob Batson 508 897-9393 Fred Harmon 603 891-4913
Report #24: Tales From The Charging Trailer - Part 1
Every evening and morning during the actual running of the NESEA Tour, the Charging Trailer is the focus of attention. After a hard day's traveling all the vehicles want their juice, and especially those with the large capacity batteries, or those with the low power chargers, want to get on the plug early, off the plug late, and uninterrupted current in between. No one wanted to hear that their circuit breaker "popped" sometime during the night and they did not get a complete charge.
But in years gone past there have been disagreements as to why a particular circuit breaker opened during the night. Teams tend to think the problem is in the trailer. After all, they don't have this problem at home! The trailer crew tend to point the fingers at the charger. Feel how hot that breaker is? That charger must have horrendous harmonics! This year there will the ability to look at both the numbers and the waveforms both going into the Charging Trailer and out of each plug.
I spoke with Chris Morgan and Brain Keenan, both students at Norwich University, who showed me their Dell Pentium PC and monitor mounted on the side of the NESEA Charging Trailer. They are responsible for the computer system that will both display real-time data and collect continuous data for later analysis. They started this project in September, got it up and running in April and have been fine-tuning it until now.
Their color computer monitor was showing current waveforms and energy spectra for the few cars that were plugged in on Saturday, May 17th. If you were expecting some nice, smooth, sine waves on the screen, you would have been disappointed. One charger's current looked closer to a square wave with a ski- ramp mounted on top of it. Another looked more like static; jagged and irregular spikes that completely masked the 60 Hertz period. The spectrums for those chargers had lots of energy at 120, 180, 240, and even higher multiples of 60 Hertz. (While most teams have reasonably modern commercial chargers, there are still some older ones around, and the occasional home-brewed circuit. These "work" but inject so much noise into the line that they would make a power engineer cry.)
In addition to being able to look at each individual plug's data, they are also able to look at the three-phase current coming in from the power grid and also the current being distributed to each of the sub-panels. This will allow them to study the cumulative effects of having many chargers on a power line, such as when you have a fleet of EVs.
In addition to writing the computer programs, using the LabView graphical programming system from National Instruments, they also designed and built a pair of circuit boards that perform the matrix switching that funnels almost 100 sampling points down to a single input into the computer. The matrix also allows them to select what signal is measure against what reference. For instance, a voltage can be measured line-to-line or line-to-neutral in a 3- phase system; the matrix lets them do either.
I intend to visit the charging trailer occasionally during the rally to see how well reality conforms to plans.
Report #25: Another Look: `GarnetOne' from Swarthmore College
Waterbury CT, Sunday, 18 May
Pete Hamilton, Kurt Selverian, and Tom Makin of #62 `GarnetOne' were "pulling a lot of stuff together at the last minute." They are a 5-man team, plus two advisors, with a very ambitious project of creating a hybrid that runs on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The current arrangement is a CNG fueled engine turning a Fisher Electric alternator that charges the battery pack. "We had a more interesting control system, but that exploded about a month ago. We had a custom-built controller; we are using a Curtis controller now."
The engine is "a Kawasaki 620 cc overhead valve V-twin, using a simple carburetion system (no fuel injectors). It's the one they use in their Mule series of agricultural vehicles, which is a cross between a ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) and a pickup truck. It's a pretty simple engine, designed for reliability. The only modification other than the compressed natural gas conversion was to advance the ignition to get a cleaner burn, better efficiency, and a little bit more power."
The vehicle is very much packed with stuff. The CNG tank is behind a firewall behind the rear seat. The CNG engine is in the trunk behind the tank. The front has the electric drive and there are cables running everywhere in the vehicle and not too neatly. (I hope they can keep them all straight.)
Report #26: Team Profile: `Kineticar'
#18 `Kineticar' is a converted pickup truck returning to the NESEA Tour, except that is has switched from the Commuter Category, which is only so-called "pure" electric vehicles, into the US DOE Hybrid Category. Don Narducci, a teacher at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College, took me through the changes.
They have added a 1-liter, 3-cylinder, 53 horsepower engine from a Geo Metro under the hood, burning Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG, aka propane). The output of that engine goes through a Warner electric clutch onto the tail shaft of the DC brushed motor which replaced the original Chevy engine. This means that the vehicle can be run as a pure electric, pure LPG, or parallel hybrid by having the motor, engine, or both drive the transmission.
I asked if the electric motor could start the LPG engine. "No, we've kept the original starter motor because we were not sure when we started this project how well it was going to work. And it works fairly well. We also get a big boost when we are going up a hill from the DC motor."
The electric motor is controlled by the so-called "pot-box" which contains a potentiometer. The LPG engine is controlled by a mechanical linkage to the carburetor. When in pure Electric Vehicle (EV) mode, you don't want the engine doing anything, so you don't want the accelerator pedal to move the linkage. When in pure LPG mode, you can just turn off the motor with a switch. But in hybrid mode, you want to "throttle" both the engine and motor together. The control linkage that lets the one driver's accelerator pedal in the cab control both the engine and the motor was very clever. The pedal pulls on a normal throttle cable that in turn pulls on the center of a metal bar and, simultaneously, the pot-box arm. The metal bar is attached to the throttle linkage on one end, and a pneumatic actuator on the other. When the engine is not running or not yet up to idle speed, the pneumatic actuator does not pull on its end of the metal bar, so no force is applied to the throttle linkage when the accelerator pedal is pushed. But once the engine is at idle (or greater speed) the engine vacuum causes the pneumatic actuator to pull on its end of the metal bar. Now when the throttle cable pulls on the center of the metal bar, the throttle end of the metal bar pushes on the throttle linkage to the carburetor, thus speeding up the engine.
`Kineticar' is actually `Kineticar II'. It was in the 1995 and 1996 NESEA Tours as a purely electric vehicle. `Kineticar I' was a Ford Escort wagon conversion, and all the components from it are in the current truck.
Vehicle Name `Kineticar' Vehicle Number 18 Category US DOE Hybrid Category Organization Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College Team Name CSERT-NVCTC Town Waterbury CT Dimensions 15' 0" x 5' 4" x 5' 0" Weight 3600 pounds Range 200 miles Max Speed 70 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Capacity 500 pounds Construction 1989 Chevy Pick-Up, steel frame, steel body Motor Advanced series 24 kW continuous/48 kW peak Controller Curtis Model 1231C Charger None PV array 12 Watt, Uni-Solar, Amorphous Battery Trojan, 1120 lbs, PbA 17500 W-hrs, 96 V, series Engine Geo Metro, 53 hp, 1 liter, 3 cylinder Fuel LPG Hybrid Config. Parallel Wheels, Tires 4, Goodyear Invicta GA Brakes front disk, rear drum, no regen
Report #27: Team Profile: `Re-Charger'
I spoke with Matt Howlett, part of the team with #66 `Re-Charger'. This Ford Ranger was converted by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of New Haven Connecticut. This beautiful dark blue truck with gold lettering, the school colors of course, originally had a 4-cylinder engine in it. That, and all the associated gasoline equipment, was ripped out and replace with 24 6-Volt marine batteries. They drive a 28 horsepower DC motor through a MOS-FET controller. The motor attaches to the original drive train at the flywheel, so the rest of the drive train, clutch, 4-speed transmission, drive shaft and differential, are from the original. They usually just run in second gear for city driving and use fourth for highway driving. First is used for steep hills.
"The project took about 10 months. The first 4 months went into research and raising money, and the rest went into actual work." The core of the team is 6 students, mostly seniors with a couple of underclassmen, who did this just for fun along side their regular classwork.
Under the hood also looked very clean to my eye. A clear plastic cover made it easy to see, but not touch, all the battery connections. Yet the cover was easily removed if it was necessary to work on the battery connections, measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte, or whatever. All of the exposed traction electrical connections were covered with an insulating paint.
Air lifts were added to the suspension to stiffen the front to keep it from rolling in turns, and to lift the back to make it ride level.
The NESEA Tour rules require that every vehicle have a solar panel and that it be doing something useful. It's NESEA's way of acknowledging both that the American Tour de Sol started as a purely solar-powered vehicle race, and also to acknowledge their commitment to sustainable energy systems. In the `Re- Charger' their solar panel charges the 12 Volt battery that powers the Cruising Equipment E-Meter that each vehicle carries to measure the actual energy consumption of the vehicle.
They had about 300 miles on the truck when they got to Waterbury for registration and testing, and Matt said they had it up to about 75 miles per hour. They have gotten about 70 or 80 miles draining the batteries to 80% depth of discharge. They have some pretty good ideas on how to add regenerative braking, but that is now a project for next year.
Vehicle Name `Re-Charger' Vehicle Number 66 Team Name UNH Chargers Category Commuter Category Organization University of New Haven Town West Haven CT Dimensions 12'0" x 6' 0" x 5' 0" Weight 3850 pounds Range 80 miles Max Speed 50 miles per hour # of Passengers 2 Capacity 350 pounds Construction 1984 Ford Ranger, steel frame, steel body Motor Advanced DC, series wound, 21 kW continuous/64 kW peak Controller Auburn Kodiak MOS-FET solid state Charger None PV array no Battery Trojan, 1600 lbs, PbA 4176(?) W-hrs, 144 V, series Wheels, Tires 4, Goodyear racing Brakes front disk, rear drum, no regenI don't believe the Watt-hours listed for the Battery, above. I presume it is a typo.
Report #28: Final Results
Awards given at the Ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
--- Production Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name <> Award
50 `Solectria/Horizon' Connecticut EV/NAVC <> NESEA Daily Efficiency Awards, Day 1 and Day 5, $200 total, 130 and 142 Watt-hours per mile <> Best Production Sedan, Lead-Acid Battery, Trophy <> Best Range, Production, Lead-Acid Battery, 104.1 miles
55 `Ford Ecostar' Northeast Utilities <> Best Production Utility Vehicle, Advanced Energy System, Trophy <> NESEA Energy Challenge, Utility Vehicle, Trophy, $250, 46.7 miles/gallon equivalent of gasoline
76 `Solectria Force NiMH' Solectria - Ovonic Battery <> NESEA Daily Efficiency Awards, Days 2, 3 and 4, $300 total, 100, ?, and ? Watt-hours per mile <> Best Production Sedan, Advanced Energy System, Perpetual Trophy <> James Worden, 1st Place, Autocross, Production, Patagonia Jacket <> Best Range, Production, Advanced Energy System, 249 miles <> NESEA Energy Challenge, 4 seater-Sedan, Trophy, $250, 60.4 miles/gallon equivalent of gasoline <> Best Production Vehicle using Goodyear Tires, $1000
99 `Toyota RAV4-EV' Toyota Motor Sales USA <> NESEA Safety Award
--- Commuter Category --- Number Vehicle Name Team Name <> Award
13 `The Electrifly' PTBO Clean Air Challenge <> Blue Sky Club Sportsmanship Award, Trophy, $150, "Keep It In The Family Award", for having a mother, father, son team
33 `Enterprise' Techies
44 `Solar Saurus' Rocky Hill High School Team <> Best Utility Vehicle using Lead-Acid Battery, Trophy
45 `Sparky' Wooster's Charge <> 2nd Place, US DOE Student-Built Commuter Award, Trophy and $750 <> Best Commuter Sedan using Lead-Acid Battery, Trophy <> Society of Manufacturing Engineering, Boston North Shore Chapter, Best High School Team, Commuter Category