Team Trev

Planning for the big trip

2009-12-21 · Leave a Comment

The list of logistical tasks is growing. There are many aspects that need attention.

The car needs to be shipped to and from Shanghai (the start and end location). We need to register the car in Australia, then check the permit requirements to drive in each country. We need to organise insurance and customs documentation required in each country. We are required to carry certain safety equipment and spare parts—these will need to be acquired and assembled.

Drivers for the race will comprise members of Team Trev, Sponsors and Benefactors. There are approximately 160 legs. We will need to coordinate driver rosters as well as ensure that each driver has the appropriate training, visas, travel insurance, international driving permit, immunisations (and other health requirements), and uniforms to participate. Flights and accommodation for some drivers will need to be arranged.

We will be travelling through a diverse range of countries, climates and cultures. We need to check the likely weather conditions and local traffic laws. When the race route is finalised we need to gather maps and other navigational equipment, calculate gradients on hills and the length of individual legs. We need to assemble the paperwork required for passage through each country.

Along the way we will keep an up-to-date weblog and a map with our current position. We also need to arrange phone and internet access in each country.

Things will inevitably go wrong. We need to be flexible and have contingency plans for drivers that are unable to drive, changes to the race route, and any of the multitude of challenges that may crop up along the way. We will need a good support team back in Australia to help overcome any issues that arise.

And that’s just the race!

Before we start in Shanghai in June, we will arrange and be involved with many events. Our immediate calendar includes:

  • 6 January 2010: Something in the city (details to be announced), leading up to…
  • 7 January 2010: Public event featuring Louis Palmer (founder and Race Director of Zero Race) and Team Trev
  • 24 January 2010: Kids Tour Down Under
  • 15–16 February 2010: CleverGreen Conference and Showcase

More details will be added to the Upcoming Events page. Each of these events requires some level of planning and action.

As you can see, the list of logistical activities is growing each day. If you would like to join Team Trev and assist in some way, we’d love to hear from you.

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A big battery in a small car

2009-12-13 · 2 Comments

One of the main upgrades to Trev is to increase the range of the car from 120 km per charge to over 250 km per charge. To do this, we have to fit a big battery into a small car.

Actually, the battery will not be that big. Currently, Trev has a 45 kg battery. We need to increase the battery mass to about 85 kg. The mass of the car with the larger battery will still be under 400 kg.

Choice of battery type is critical. We will use large lithium ion polymer cells, similar to those in our current battery, only larger. The advantages of lithium ion polymer are:

  • they have high energy per kilogram (about 160 Wh/kg)
  • they have high energy per volume
  • the large, flat cells are easy to fit into tight spaces.

With most batteries there is a trade-off between energy capacity and power. However, high energy cells can deliver more than enough power for our low-mass car.

Last week we lifted the car up onto trestles to check that there was enough room beneath the car for a large battery. There was.

Design for the new battery box.

The diagram shows the structural tub chassis in green, and the proposed new battery box in white. The tub chassis is built from boards with an aluminium honeycomb core and fibreglass skins, with kevlar reinforcement on the floor. For the battery box, we are considering using polypropylene honeycomb with kevlar skins, which will be even lighter.

The entire high-voltage system—battery, fuses, battery management system, contactors and motor controller—will fit into the battery box. The motor controller is taller than the battery, but will stick up through the main floor under the rear seat. This layout will allow very simple wiring, from battery to motor controller to motor.

To accommodate  the battery box, we will raise the car by about 60 mm. This will also allow us to increase the movement on our suspension so we can cope with rough roads. We will continue to use double wishbone suspension at the front, but will lengthen the suspension arms by putting the lower pivots on the underside of the main floor, where the battery box narrows near the front.

This design improves the overall simplicity of the car, by putting all of the high voltage components together in a box that can be easily separated from the rest of the car.

Now all we have to do is complete the detailed design and engineering analysis, then build it.

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The evolution of Team Trev

2009-12-07 · 2 Comments

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.

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Technical work begins

2009-12-03 · Leave a Comment

Last night, the beginnings of the Team Trev Technical Team met at the UniSA workshop to start preparing Trev for the long drive. Here is what we looked like:

The start of a technical team at the end of our first meeting.

Between us, we have helped design and build racing cars, road cars, solar racing cars, land yachts, pedal-prix vehicles, sailplanes, electric cars, and Trev.

There are a few more people eager to help with the technical work who could not make it to our initial meeting, but will be joining us in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, others are working hard on administration, fundraising and logistics.

You can follow our progress here at teamtrev.com, or on our Google Group.

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Preparing Trev for a long trip

2009-11-25 · Leave a Comment

Trev was designed for the city—short trips on good roads, carrying one or  sometimes two people. In Trev’s home city of Adelaide, 98% of cars travel less than 100 km each day and the average daily distance travelled is just 32 km.

Driving around the world will be a challenge. Zero Race will compress three years of commuting into 80 days. Each day, Trev will have to travel up 250 km—without stopping—before lunch. After lunch: another 200-250 km.

Trev travelled about 500 km each day of the 2007 World Solar Challenge, but could travel only 80-120 km before we had to stop and recharge. To travel 250 km without stopping, we will have to increase the energy capacity of Trev’s battery from 5.3 kWh to about 13 kWh. This will increase the mass of the car by about 50 kg. Even so, Trev will still weigh less than half the weight of a small conventional car, and still be a lot more efficient.

The new battery will be fitted under the floor.

There are many other tasks required to prepare Trev for a long trip, including:

  • fitting a new brushless motor and motor controller
  • improving the brakes and suspension
  • improving the canopy hinge and latches
  • getting Trev registered for on-road use.

We are still looking for volunteers to help with this work. Even if you can’t join us in the workshop, you can participate by contributing to discussions on the Team Trev Google Group and on Trevipedia.

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Team Trev is born

2009-11-15 · 4 Comments

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.

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