Team Trev

Since unveiling Trev in 2005 we have had many enquiries from people wanting to build their own.

Our aim has always been to demonstrate the idea and encourage others to build upon and improve our ideas. The car we drove from Darwin to Adelaide in 2007 was simple and effective, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. In July 2009, Matt Green from Melbourne gave us a kick along by setting up a web site—Trevipedia—on which we could document our good ideas, and enthusiasts from around the globe could help improve the design.

Trev is an “open source” car. Plans and design details are freely available online on Trevipedia, and we encourage everyone to use our designs to design and build their own Trevs, and to share any improvements and ideas with other “Trev Heads”.

Building a roadworthy car is not an easy undertaking, but we are continually improving the design to make it as simple as possible. Ultimately, we hope someone will develop kits or even complete vehicles.

A key advantage of Trev is that it uses a lot less energy than conventional cars. This means that not only can you build it yourself, you can also power it yourself. An average daily commute in Adelaide is 32 km, and will require about 2 kWh of energy to recharge. A 500 W photovoltaic panel on the roof of your house will generate enough electricity each year to keep you mobile.

Imagine that. A car you can build yourself and power yourself.

We’re delighted to welcome onboard the following financial supporters for Team Trev:

• Silver Sponsor: EcoGreen Electrical and Design Ecology (combined)
• Benefactor: Keith Drake

Team Trev is a non-profit team which depends entirely on the generosity of others, whether that’s direct financial supporters, in-kind supporters or volunteers. We are most grateful to EcoGreen Electrical, Design Ecology and Keith for stepping forward to support us financially.

If you are interested in becoming a Team Trev supporter, please see details here and get in touch if you’d like to discuss it with us.

A quick update on the evolution of Team Trev.

Since establishing Team Trev we’ve been working hard to create the foundation for the team, to appoint people to key positions, to determine the funding strategy, and to develop and coordinate the many work streams required to upgrade Trev and ultimately take it around the world in Zero Race. There’s much to do.

So far we’ve filled several key team positions:
• Team Director – Andrew
• Technical Manager – Peter
• Logistics Manager – Amie

We have the informal assistance of Matt and Jo for commercial matters, and the formal assistance of Heather with media and publicity. We are still keen to appoint a Commercial Manager and a Marketing Manager to drive these important areas, so if you’re interested please get in touch.

Peter has presented to the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (SA Branch) to solicit technical team members, and has had his first meeting with his nascent technical team to plan and commence the upgrades to Trev. We are fortunate to already have some excellent technical members onboard.

Commercially, we’ve determined that we need to register as an incorporated (non profit) association, and we’re finalising our rules of association. We’ve also just finished our Sponsorship Prospectus and we’re in discussions with a number of potential sponsors.

We’ve learned from the Zero Race organisers that the race now starts in Shanghai on July 1, rather than in Geneva, which shortens our shipping time and increases our preparation time. We’re pondering a long drive in Australia (perhaps Adelaide-Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney) in April/May to provide a technical shakedown, to give our Australian sponsors the opportunity to get more involved and to allow more people to drive Trev. We’d ship Trev from Sydney directly to Shanghai. Stay tuned for more details.

If you would like to join Team Trev and contribute your skills and time, please do get in touch.

After a month of consideration, Team Trev was officially born last Friday.

The University of South Australia (UniSA) will lend Trev to the new independent team “Team Trev”, which will upgrade the car, campaign it in Zero Race, then return it to UniSA.

There’s much to be done. Technically, we need to add more batteries to extend Trev’s range, fit a new motor and controller, add a new battery management system and onboard battery charger, upgrade the brakes and suspension, improve the instrumentation, re-hinge the canopy, add a rear passenger seat, add a windscreen cleaning system, and get the car registered.

Financially, we need to bring onboard the Sponsors and Benefactors who will help fund our Zero Race campaign, and plan fundraising events which can enable the wider community to support us.

Logistically, we need to start planning all the aspects of a long overseas race including personnel transport, car transport, food, accommodation, driving rosters, driver training, car registration, visas, navigation … and so much more.

Zero Race will be an incredible event, taking us through at least 20 countries in a race around the world in 80 days. Publicity events are planned in major cities including Paris, Munich, Vienna, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York, Montreal and London.

Trev will compete alongside a variety of great electric vehicles including Tesla Roadsters, various small electric cars and several electric motorbikes. One thing is guaranteed—we’re going to attract a lot of attention wherever we go!

If you’d like to be part of the action, we’d love to have you join us.