Students design and race electric drive hybrid cars to enter in 24H24 race
1 min read
ACAL Technology is co-sponsoring a group of students to design, build and race prototypes of an electric and a hybrid car based on the Citroën 2CV chassis.
A team of 31 post graduate students, from Group T, Leuven Engineering College and Antwerp Karel de Grote University College, will race the two converted 2CVs in the 'Experimental' class of the 24hour, 24H24 race on the Francorchamps circuit, Belgium, in October 2010.
The CQS Group T Racing Team approached ACAL for help with designing the electrical interface from the cars' batteries to the drive-trains and to the electronics used for the telemetry and wireless communication with the pit team. In the electric-drive Odyssee car, this included converting a 400V input into an output voltage of 12V at 600W and a further conversion of the 12V supply to outputs of 15 and 5V. The Pegasus hybrid electric/petrol car required a single conversion from a 12V input to a 24V output at 200W.
The ACAL power specialists suggested Vicor VIPAC dc/dc converters which enabled customisation to different input and output voltages.
"Future generations of designers will consign fossil fuels to the history books," said Simon Rush, ACAL's divisional sales & marketing information manager: "By co-sponsoring the CQS Group T Racing Team students, with the Vicor dc/dc converters and specialist power design skills, ACAL is helping to develop the next generation of students who will go on to develop cars which will reduce the cost and environmental impact of driving."
