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.

Galaxy Resources is an emerging Australian mining and chemical company focusing on lithium and tantalum production. It is at an advanced stage of developing its Mt Cattlin Lithium Project in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. It intends to add value to the Mt Cattlin Project by establishing its own downstream lithium processing facilities in Jiangsu Province, China.

Team Trev Director Andrew Dickson said Galaxy Resources is a great fit for Team Trev.

“Lithium is an essential ingredient in many battery technologies, including the lithium ion batteries favoured by electric cars including Trev. Many future electric cars will be powered by batteries containing Australian lithium mined and processed by Galaxy Resources.”

“We are grateful to Galaxy for their Gold sponsorship of Team Trev, and we are happy to take Galaxy’s brand around the world with us during Zero Race.”

The leading newswire in Asia and with extensive communications networks across Australia, the US and Europe, ABN Newswire will take Team Trev’s message to a global audience.

Commenting about the partnership, ABN Newswire Director Tim Mckinnon says that it is simply a case of two groups getting together to promote common values of sustainability.

“Team Trev embodies the values of innovation and environmental conservation that are important to our company,” he says. “Trev challenges the way we think – it is the result of re-examining traditional methods and finding new and more efficient ways to make progress,” he says.

“At a time when creating a sustainable environment is at the top of the global agenda, Trev is proof that people can actively participate in creating real solutions. It’s one of the reasons why ABN Newswire is excited about this collaboration and about broadcasting Trev to the world.”

Team Trev Director Andrew Dickson says that the support of ABN Newswire represents a strong vote of confidence in the team.

“Team Trev is a not-for profit team of volunteers whose key aim is to show the world that there are alternative methods of personal transportation that can protect our environment and save you money,” he says.

“Our belief has always been that Trev is a solution to the impending problems of peak oil and climate change. It’s an electric car which could be built by anyone, and uses such little energy that it could be powered by domestic solar panels. Without the support of sponsors, Team Trev would not make it to Shanghai to start in Zero Race.

“The support of ABN Newswire means that we are one step closer to our dream of delivering Trev’s message to the world.”

View ABN Newswire’s media release about the sponsorship here.

Describe yourself in three words
Engineer, cyclist, tall

What is your ‘day job’?
Electrical Engineer for ASC Pty Ltd (formerly Australian Submarine Corporation).

Favourite movie?
Couldn’t single one out but high on the list are Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Lord of the Rings & Forest Gump.

Favourite food?
Lasagne

Person who most inspires you?
Cadel Evans

How did you get involved with Team Trev?
I volunteered when I was in my 2nd year at UniSA. I was lucky, as the construction of Trev started the next day.

Have you driven Trev much before?
I was one of the two that drove Trev from Darwin to Adelaide – and I loved every minute of it.

Is Trev comfortable to drive in?
Yes it is. Trev will be even better with some proper ventilation. I have not been a passenger yet – I’m keen to see how the new back seat turns out.

Would you buy a car like Trev?
I would. I have had many people ask where they can buy one too. The first time Trev was on display, a man literally got his cheque book out and asked how much!

What most excites you about Zero Race?
Having the chance to put Trev to the test and show people that electric cars are now viable.

Have you done anything like this before?
Aside from driving Trev in the World Solar Challenge, I used to build and race Pedal Prix cars. I am also a member of the Aurora Solar Car team; I raced with Aurora in the 2009 Global Green Challenge (Darwin to Adelaide).

How would you describe your driving style?
Smooth, efficient.

What will you think about while you’re on the road?
How good it is to not care about the price of fuel. And also my family and friends.

What can people learn from Trev?
That you don’t need over a tonne of metal to move you around town (or around the world).

What do you hope to achieve through Zero Race?
To prove that electric cars are better than conventional ones and generally raise awareness of environmental issues.

If you could get one message across to people about electric cars, what would it be?
They are actually fast, fun and easy to drive. They also outperform petrol cars in many ways. I have driven both types and I would choose electric.

If Trev could talk, what would it say?
“I’m Trev. I’m green”

Many years ago, before we started designing Trev, I was driving a Solectria electric car to work when my path became blocked by a large “SUV” that had broken down in the middle of an intersection. Pushing the SUV to the side of the road made me realise just how much energy is required to move these massive machines. My electric car was better because it was using energy generated from clean, renewable sources. But it still needed a lot of it.

I sometimes demonstrate the importance of low mass by tying a small child to Trev and another to a conventional car, then asking them to race across the yard. Trev moves, the other car doesn’t. It usually takes five kids towing a conventional car to keep up with one towing Trev. A large SUV took ten kids.

In 2008 I had two high-school students investigate the relationship between vehicle mass and CO₂ emissions. They used emissions data from the 2007 Australian Green Vehicle Guide and looked up vehicle masses from manufacturer’s web sites. The results are shown in the following graph.

CO2 emissions vs vehicle mass

The red dots show CO₂ emissions for petrol cars, the blue dots for diesel, and the green dots for hybrids. The trends are obvious—halving the mass halves the emissions. The reduction is not entirely due to the reduction in mass; lower mass cars are generally smaller, with smaller engines and less aerodynamic drag. But mass is the dominant factor.

The graph also shows that for a given car mass (and size), there is wide variation in emissions. Improving vehicle technologies is one way to reduce emissions, but choosing an appropriate vehicle with low emissions can be a lot more effective.

Trev has a mass of just over 300 kg, and so it takes a lot less energy to push it along the road. In 2007 we drove Trev from Darwin to Adelaide, cruising at 80-90 km/h. We used 187 kWh of electricity, worth $33, to drive 3000 km. Petrol costs for a conventional car would be ten times this amount.

Electric cars are coming. Most will be based on conventional cars, and so will be heavy and require a lot of energy. A 1300 kg electric car with a range of 120 km might have 200 kg of batteries. Trev has the same range with only 45 kg of batteries. (We are going to increase this to 80 kg for Zero Race, because the charging points are up to 250 km apart.) Reducing the mass of a car is a very effective way of reducing the energy required to move the car, and the amount of materials required to build the car.

Trev. Not only does it use clean energy, it also uses a lot less energy.

• 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.

Does it get hot in there?

In October 2007, two UniSA students drove Trev from Darwin to Adelaide in ambient temperatures around 35°C. Both survived. One of them has come back for more, and will be driving Trev for part of its tour around the world.

Like any car, Trev can get hot. When it is moving, air flowing through the car from an inlet in the front provides some relief. We also had a small fan in the car for our trip across the Australian outback. (We took it away from the driver to provide additional cooling for the motor controller, but we will put it back.)

The air conditioning systems used in conventional cars are not suitable for low-energy vehicles—they use more power than Trev driving at 100 km/h. We are still looking for efficient, effective ways to keep the driver comfortable.

How fast does it go?

Trev was designed to fit in with normal urban traffic, including on freeways. It has a top speed of over 100 km/h, and accelerates smoothly up to 100 km/h in around 10 seconds.

How far will it go?

When we drove from Darwin to Adelaide, we could travel up to 120 km at 90 km/h before we had to stop and recharge. Recharging took about an hour, and we were able to travel about 500 km per day. For Zero Race, we are increasing the range to over 250 km so that we don’t have to stop so often. For urban use, however, a range of 100-150 km is plenty.

Where are the solar panels?

Our experience with solar racing cars inspired us to build Trev—if you can drive across Australia without using fossil fuels, you should be able to drive to work and back. But if you have a photovoltaic panel, it will be more effective on the roof of your house than on the roof of your car. Trev is a pure electric car, and can be recharged using clean electricity from solar, wind or other renewable energy sources.

What type of battery does it use?

We are using lithium ion polymer cells. There are thirty-six large cells connected in series, giving a battery voltage around 130 V. The estimated life of the batteries is 250000 km.

How safe is it?

You will be less vulnerable in Trev than on a bicycle or motorcycle. Trev is also less ‘aggressive’ towards other road users than most conventional cars. The occupants sit within a rigid tub structure that will provide some protection during a crash. But heavy vehicles will have a greater impact on Trev than Trev will have on them.

Did you see where my husband went?

No.

Our next appearance will be at the final stage of the Tour Down Under. Come and see us, and ask your own questions.

Team Trev manager, Andrew Dickson, introduced our team of volunteers and explained how and why we are going to take the UniSA car, Trev, and drive it around the world. Next, technical manager Peter Pudney showed the audience how to build a Trev.

The main attraction was Louis Palmer, who gave an inspiring presentation about how he achieved his childhood dream of driving a solar powered car around the world.

Louis describing his bicycle ride across Africa

Louis finished off with a brief overview of Zero Race. Louis and Team Trev then took questions from the audience before moving outside to look at Trev.

Trev in Rundle Mall

(more photos)

We were also interviewed by Channel 7, ABC Radio and Radio Adelaide, and have online stories on Yahoo!7 and ABC News Online.

Tonight Trev will be at the UniSA City West campus for a public talk by Louis Palmer on Zero Race; see Upcoming Events for more details.

Trev is the only Australian entrant in Zero Race, a tour around the world for electric vehicles powered by renewable energy.

The founder and Race Director of Zero Race, Louis Palmer, will be visiting us from Switzerland on 7 January 2010, and giving a public presentation on Zero Race and on his Solar Taxi adventures. This is a great opportunity to meet Trev and Team Trev, and to see Louis speak.

See Upcoming Events for more information about our event, and the Zero Race web site for more information about Louis.

We are still looking for volunteers and supporters to help with our campaign. If you are interested, get involved.