A group of seven 4th year engineering students at the University of Waikato have started a project called NZeco, a project with a focus on sustainability. The team are researching and developing a solution to the future commuter transportation requirements of NZ. Using a battery electric vehicle (BEV) as the base of the project, the team is determined to prove NZeco’s potential as a feasible solution for the looming fuel crisis.

BEVs have been around since the turn of the century but they have all fallen by the wayside, with vehicles using fossil fuels continuing to be the only real alternative to-date. Petrol has an extremely high amount of energy relative to its mass and volume, whereas a typical lead acid battery pack used by the original BEVs has only about 300 times as much energy. The other problem with the BEVs of the past was that they were simply converted petrol powered cars. These were built like tanks, heavy, and inefficient, with poor aerodynamics giving the BEV’s the range of a toddler on a trike. Until recently the abundant and cheap petrol has meant that there was simply no need for a BEV. But times they are changing, with petrol heading for $3/litre or $150 to fill an average sized car like a Toyota Corolla, we all have to stop and think, what are the practical alternatives? NZeco project manager Travis de Fluiter explains:

At Waikato University we don’t think cramming several hundred kg of lead acid batteries into an existing petrol car is the right way to go. We believe we have to redesign the car from the ground up. We use a theory of factors, we look at increasing the efficiencies inside the vehicle to obtain an energy factor close to 300 times that of the older BEVs. This would make it the equal of a petrol powered vehicle. First off we use lithium polymer batteries that have at least 5 times the energy density of lead-acids. By reducing the overall vehicle weight to 600kg, using energy efficient "eco" tyres, and improving aerodynamics by 30%, we can decrease the power required to drive the BEV by a factor of 3. Utilising 90+% efficient electric motors we reduce the power conversion system by up to 4 when compared with the gearbox and drive train of the combustion engine. Finally, we use 4 times the mass of batteries (160kg) compared with fuel (40kg) to improve our factor by 4 more. If you do the sums... 5x3x4x4=240. The closer to 300 we move, the closer to parity we are. By optimizing each part of the BEV we can really close the energy gap between BEVs and petrol cars, and as petrol prices continue to rise feasibility continues to increase.

In theory NZeco will be able to drive 300km at 100km/h. At your household rate of 20c per kWh that works out to about $5 per charge. Not bad when compared with $35 for a small commuter style vehicle of today. So by now you’re all thinking "even if I can drive 300km, I have to stop and wait 5 hours while the batteries recharge". Well there are solutions to this problem. Old petrol stations become battery stations. You simply drive in swipe your EFTPOS card and the battery is removed and replaced automatically with a fully charged one, all in just a few seconds. No standing around waiting in the cold wind with the petrol dripping on your new shoes. And with recharge stations owning the battery packs you would pay say $10/charge (still extremely good value),reducing the cost of the BEV by almost half, by merely "renting" the battery pack.

So what of performance? With 800Nm of torque and 100kW of power NZeco is by no means slow, as often perceived of electric vehicles. It will accelerate briskly to 100km/h, with an electronically controlled top speed of 110km/h it will do everything a current petrol car will.

We are building NZeco to hopefully prove the point that BEVs are viable. The car embodies all the advanced features mentioned above, and hopefully will show that NZ can have an alternative to petrol cars. The first prototype - to be finished in November - will be used as a test bed for a range of new technologies. We believe that New Zealand is very lucky, it has fantastic natural resources both in material and renewable energy. If any country can cope with the post oil world it is New Zealand, and of course clever digital sound systems can make your quiet EV sound like a V8 Chevy without an exhaust pipe! n