Imagine a car that only has the capacity to travel one-quarter of a mile and reach a top speed of 77.37 mph, but still sets a world record in the process.

BYU's EV1 is a one-of-a-kind electric automobile, donated to the university by General Motors in the fall of 2002.

EV1 set a drag racing world record two weeks ago in Las Vegas when it crossed the quarter-mile mark in 15.907 seconds.

EV1 uses 160 Maxwell ultracapacitors, which are connected to produce 400 volts of total power used up in less than 20 seconds said Perry Carter, assistant professor of manufacturing for the School of Technology.

"That's all you would need for drag racing," said Tom Erekson, director of BYU's School of Technology.

Erekson said the EV1 is unique because it is powered solely on capacitors, not batteries. An ultracapacitor is a device used to store chemical free energy.

"A capacitor can charge and discharge energy very quickly," Erekson said. "The capacitors can also be charged thousands of times. When we are done with the project, we can still use the capacitors. Batteries we would have to throw out."

For this reason the School of Technology decided to invest in the capacitors, Carter said.

The department has a goal for the EV1 to break 100 mph in the quarter-mile in the next few years.

Students will be working to determine what the car needs to reach that goal.

Erekson, Carter and their team believe the EV1 could run much faster with additional gear speeds.

"We intend to run the car at Rocky Mountain Raceway to collect the data we need," Erekson said. "We need to know if one or two more speeds would help us reach our goal.

The EV1 and Electric Blue, BYU's other electric racing automobile, are part of the student-mentoring program.

The reason for the program is to give students the opportunity to work one-on-one with teachers - helping them prepare to enter their respective fields.

"We make solving technological problems fun," Erekson said. "The program involves students from various majors and backgrounds working together to solve the problems. That's what it's all about."

Erekson said in addition to the experience and fun the program provides, the fact students went out and set a world record is just "frosting on the cake."

"It is a very valuable learning experience for the students," Carter said. "There is work for everybody to do, everything from polishing the cars to writing the software and going to the races."

Carter said many graduates involved in the student-mentoring program have been able to get jobs solely because of their experience in the program.

Philip Jimenez, a BYU mechanical engineering graduate from Germantown, Tenn., was a team captain for the mentoring program last year. He now works for the No. 4 Nascar team sponsored by Kodak.

"The program was very beneficial in helping me land this job," Jimenez said. "My experience with the BYU team got me in the door."

Jimenez now does data acquisition design, analysis and speedway testing for Nascar. It involves a lot of aerodynamics and geometry skills.

"BYU taught me how to learn and gave me the basic fundamentals I needed," Jimenez said. "The program is a great hands-on experience and a step in the right direction."

Jimenez said students involved in the modifications of the EV1 will have to fabricate any spare parts needed on their own. When GM donated the car to the university, they stripped most of its components.

GM will not be producing any more of the EV1 cars and as part of the donation contract BYU has agreed not to run the car on the street. It can only be used for drag racing.

Erekson said the car needs a lock differential, which allows both wheels to spin simultaneously.

"We need both tires with power to the wheels," Erekson said. "Once we figure this out, we will have better traction and much better launch."

BYU's EV1 was the first car to race in this class because there are not many other universities involved in these competitions.

Erekson and Carter would like to see more schools involved to increase the competition and set more records.



Copyright Brigham Young University 14 May 2003