University of Ontario Institute of Technology

The famed EV1 motor lives on in the University of Ontario Institute of Technology's full-electric vehicle. They chose to forgo a conventional engine because their simulations showed that it would be the most environmentally friendly. Their simulations also assumed the energy would be coming from Canada, where most electricity is generated from hydro-electric plants rather than coal-fired plants. Tests show that their vehicle has a 400 mile range on a full charge. Converting a conventional hybrid to all-electric presented a few challenges. "The car expects to see components that we took out, like the fuel tank," says Hugo Provencher, team controls lead. To create space for the battery packs, they removed the fuel tank, which had the unintended side effect of making the car not work. Next year the team plans to install additional battery packs in the current big, empty space where the engine used to be.
Vehicle Design: The architecture is a full-function electric vehicle. It has a stored energy capacity of approximately 80 kWh, contains 90 high energy density lithium polymer batteries, and is driven by a 110 kW electric motor. Electrical led by Chad Conway, Controls led by Eric Stokes, and Mechanical led by Zach Brune and Rich Thomas. All of the publications and media are handled by Thomas Reives.