Quick Dips

Test Driving an Electric Car

Driving around town in a 1962 Austin A40 Mark II might not be exciting for most people, but Dr Simon Round, of Canterbury University's Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department has got a kick out of the almost 1,000 kilometres covered by the department's electric car.

The car has been an ongoing project in the Department since the 1970s. However, old technology meant the earlier model was unreliable to the point of needing a tune-up every time it was started or hit a bump in the road. Last year, the car had a complete overhaul, updating it with the latest technology.

Installing an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) inverter, used in most industrial electric motor speed controllers, allows the car to operate by computer-based digital control, enabling it to escape its earlier problems of unreliability.

The car posed minor problems when it came time for a warrant of fitness because few of the car's components were familiar to the mechanic and its profile didn't meet the standard warrant of fitness paper work.

"Once the mechanic understood how the car functioned and what it was all about he was quite happy to go through it," Round says.

The car operates on 20 12V lead-acid gel-type batteries and two AC induction motors, enabling it to reach a top speed of 80kmh with a range of 35km around town, all at a cost of $1.10 to charge the batteries. From dead flat, the batteries can be charged overnight. An unforeseen cost was road user tax, because the car does not use petrol.

The car is similar to an automatic to drive, although more thinking is required from the driver, Round says.

"To make the most of the energy available, the driver needs to remember to accelerate gradually and brake early to conserve the battery."

One aspect the department wants to improve is electric car performance. At present the Farina has poor acceleration between 0 and 10kmh. The engineers plan to improve this with the next project, a Toyota MR2 sports car. Round went to Japan last year to purchase the vehicle he hopes will allow the researchers to reach speeds in excess of 100kmh.

Round says the department's interest in the car is purely on the electrical side. The car was used as a case study and to illustrate applications to students as well as being the subject of many final-year projects and masters work.

"As a teaching tool it's extremely useful because something that moves stimulates interest."

The family runabout and the sports version.