Vehicle Architecture

A Full-function Electric Vehicle Design with +400 KM Range

UOIT is the only University building a Full-Function Electric Vehicle for the EcoCAR challenge. This design architecture was chosen for several reasons:

Our team firmly believes that electric vehicles are the cleanest and most efficient technology available today (as proved by our simlulations).
UOIT owns one of the largest licensed electric vehicle fleets in Canada, hence has the technical expertise required to design one from scratch.

Our design team is comprised of electrical, computer, mechanical and automotive engineering students from undergraduate and graduate programs.

Vehicle Performance

Accel 0-60 mph	13.5 sec.
Accel 50-70 mph	7.5 sec
Range	250 miles (402 km)
Top Speed	100 mph (160 kph)

Vehicle Specifications

Motor	110 kW
Batteries	90 cells, 240 Ah
Available Energy	80 kWh
Vehicle Curb Weight	4715 lbs
Batteries	Lithium Polymer, 240 Ah
BMS	REAP LIBMS - 14

Electric Drivetrain

CAD image of electric motor, mounts, TIM and driveshaft

Electric vehicles are one of the oldest technologies, dating back to the early 1900s. Lead acid batteries were always the mainstay and Achilles heel, but new technologies have given new hope to EV’s.

With lithium battery technology having undergone more than 10 years of development, batteries today are superior to their predecessors and have the energy density needed for this type of application. As they penetrate the market and their use is broadened, their cost is dropping; making them a commercially viable alternative in future automobiles.

Electric Motor

The heart of our electric vehicle is GM’s S-10 electric motor which can deliver 110 kW of power (148 hp). This electric machine will drive our GM-donated vehicle and has demonstrated to meet the competition performance requirements in our simulations. New motor mounts have been designed to position it as low as possible and in the center of the front cradle with equal length half shafts to avoid torque steer.

The motor is controlled by a MES-DEA Traction Inverter Module (TIM) 600, which transforms the direct current (DC) from the batteries to alternating current (AC) as required by the motor.

Chiller/Heater System

The lithium polymer chemistry cells only survive to their full life cycle potential if maintained within a relatively narrow temperature range. Two thermoelectric units will cool or warm the battery modules to ensure operation in ambient temperature regardless the weather. A glycol mix will be utilized throughout the Teflon tubing loop.

Structural Reinforcement

The 90 lithium polymer cells will be contained in 2 separate battery boxes: one underneath the passenger compartment in between the frame rails, and another under the hood of the vehicle. Additional steel reinforcements around the fiberglass structure will help bear the weight of the batteries and protect them against side and lower impacts

Energy Storage System

Re-packaging our full-function electric system into the chassis of a GM-donated vehicle was difficult asit was not originally designed to contain the components we are integrating. For the vehicle to cover a range of 400 km on a single charge, 90 high energy density lithium polymer cells are required. Four BRUSA battery chargers connected in parallel are capable of providing a charging power of approximately 12 kW, fully charging the vehicle in 8 hours on a 110 V outlet, or 3-4 hours on a 220V outlet. In cases where the state of charge of the battery back is higher, the charge time could even be minutes.

The battery management system (BMS) selected is manufactured by REAP systems and consists of a programmable and network enabled battery management board. Each board can monitor and manage 14 cells connected in series. Cell stacks are pre-assembled with their cooling/heating system inter-layers.