Racing Green Endurance
Encyclopedia
Racing Green Endurance is a student-led project at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

to demonstrate the potential of zero emission
Zero emission
Zero emission refers to an engine, motor, or other energy source, that emits no waste products that pollutes the environment or disrupts the climate.-Zero emission engines:...

 cars. The team drove 26,000 km down the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...

 starting from north Alaska in July 2010, this was filmed by the documentary maker Claudio Von Planta
Claudio von Planta
Claudio von Planta is a Swiss cameraman, director and filmmaker, based in London.-Long Way Round:His best known work is as the cameraman who accompanied Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their Long Way Round motorcycle journey from London to New York in 2004. Shortly before the trip Claudio...


.

Motivation

Sustainability - Electric vehicles have the potential to realise a sustainable transport future, without depleting valuable resources for future generations. The RGE project aims to demonstrate this while pushing the boundaries of electric vehicle (EV) technology.

Education - The team want to help encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers through the outreach program. They plan to use the RGE project as an exhilarating example of where maths and science can take you.

Adventure - The Radical SRZero aims to be the world’s most focused, fun-to-drive alternative propulsion vehicle. By taking on this epic journey, they hope to add a sense of excitement and get people interested in electric vehicles.

RGE’s Vehicle

RGE was sponsored an SR8 rolling chassis by Radical Sportscars to convert into a road legal electric sportscar. The electric SR8, dubbed the SRZero, was designed and built in just 7 months with components donated by many other companies.

On May 21, 2010, the car drove for the first time, but subsequent problems with electromagnetic interference (EMI) put the car back in the garage for several days work to rectify the problem. However, by the end of April the car had been successfully track tested up to a limited speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).
On April 29, 2010 the car passed the Individual Vehicle Assessment (IVA), and so is now road legal in the UK and abroad. The SRZero now has the largest battery pack by energy storage out of any known road legalised vehicle in the UK.

The Trip

In July 2010 the team took the 400 bhp SRZero all 26'000 km of the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...

, educating and raising awareness along the way. Part of the mission is to dispel any worries about the range of electric cars. On the days of full driving the batteries will be drained 2/3, charged 1/3 and then depleted ready for an overnight charge.

The journey will last roughly three months, stopping at all major cities along the route to showcase the car and technology.

Public Engagement

The public were encouraged to get involved wherever possible. Suggestions regarding places to visit on the trip, places to showcase the car, useful contacts, or even personal favours were all greatly appreciated via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

or email.

Origins

Racing Green Endurance was born as a spin-off from Imperial Racing Green in late 2008. Imperial Racing Green is an undergraduate teaching project to design and build fuel cell/electric hybrid racing cars, involving around 100 students from 8 departments within the university. The students are now designing and building the third generation of fuel cell powered racers .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK