First up, we need to get Trev re-registered in South Australia. When we registered prior to departing for Zero Race, the assessor said that we’d need to complete a lane-change test prior to driving on Australian streets again. We’ve upgraded the front suspension over recent weeks and we undertook a successful swerve test last week, so we hope to be back on the road very soon.

Our next plan is to use Trev for urban commuting, which after all is what it was originally designed to do. We plan to install data loggers in the car to record energy use, then share the car amongst team members to commute and use for their everyday driving, one week each.

With Trev out and about on the streets of Adelaide, we expect to get a lot interest in the car once again, which will give us the opportunity to share our story about Zero Race, and more importantly, to demonstrate that if a  little green car can drive around the world in 80 days, it is also more than capable of commuting to and from work.

Trev-heads Chris and Alexandra are in Morocco. They have unpacked Trev, checked over the car, topped up the battery, and driven in the chaotic Casablanca traffic. Apparently they are not the only drivers unsure about which way to go around round-abouts.

Today they will drive to Rabat, the first stage of the final leg through Morocco, Spain, France and Switzerland to Geneva—the end of the first around-the-world Zero Race.

Trev in the left foreground, SolarTaxi (http://www.solartaxi.com) on the far left, battery tray in centre

Our Battery Management System has some glitches caused by corrosion and perhaps by some transit induced faulty connections. Trev’s tie-down points inside the shipping crate had pulled away from the surrounding timber, so perhaps it was a very bumpy flight across from Australia.

Yesterday we were lucky to have the assistance of Simon and family, expat Aussies living in Switzerland, who helped us to find and purchase various  items locally. Thanks guys.

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In reality, we will be charging from various electric grids along our circumnavigation route, and the energy we consume will be a mixture of coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar generation. In effect we’ll be consuming a mixture of renewable and non-renewable energy but offsetting that with 100% renewable energy.

Trev requires approximately 70 Wh/km, so a 30,000km trip will consume approximately 2,100kWh (2.1MWh) of energy.

New Zealand based utility TrustPower has kindly donated this amount of green power to Team Trev, in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates and a cash donation. The energy will be sourced from TrustPower’s 98.7MW Snowtown Wind Farm in South Australia. This wind farm consists of 2.1MW wind turbines, so the amount of energy required to drive Trev around the world is generated by a single turbine in just one hour (at full power).

Team Trev is very grateful for TrustPower for its contribution towards our Zero Race campaign.

We still have a few months to go before Zero Race starts. The reason you haven’t seen us about lately is that the technical team has been spending a lot of time in the workshop preparing Trev for the big drive, and the logistics team has been busy doing everything else we need to do to prepare for the trip.

We have made good progress with Trev:

• fitted a new motor, wheel and suspension assembly to the rear of the car
• developed a new motor controller for our new brushless motor
• designed and almost finished building an improved suspension for the front of the car
• designed and are building a simpler, lighter electrical system, based on microprocessor controlled nodes communicating on a serial CAN bus
• designed and built a new dash display, with a 7-inch LCD monitor
• improved the canopy and hinge mechanism.

We have also made good progress outside the workshop:

• established a blog (you’re reading it!) and a mailing list
• secured some enthusiastic sponsors (but we still need a few more)
• formed an incorporated non-profit association (Team Trev Incorporated)
• opened a bank account
• made a short video clip—there are more coming
• had Trev on display in Rundle Mall, at the Tour Down Under, and at the CleverGreen conference, with plenty of coverage on TV, in the press, and on the web
• organised a public talk by Zero Race director and Solar Taxi driver, Louis Palmer
• made dozens of lists of all the things we have to do before, during and after the race.

There is still plenty more to be done, both in the workshop and in the “office”. (We don’t really have an office—we use email, Google Wave and other internet tools to communicate, and occasionally meet at events or in cafes.

It is a lot of effort, but we think it is worth it.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.