Brodie Thomas POSTMEDIA
© Provided by Calgary Herald A team of students at the University of Calgary are working on systems that will help people convert fuel cars to electric vehicles. Photo taken in March. Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
A team of students at the University of Calgary wants to make it easier to convert gas-powered vehicles to electric.
The Relectric Car Team is currently converting a 1966 Volvo into an electric vehicle, but as they do it they’re working on software and hardware solutions that could be applied to just about any vehicle.
Relectric founder Ratik Kapoor said the team’s goal is to make retrofitting an old vehicle about as affordable as purchasing a good used car.
“There are so many cars being scrapped every year when all they have is a scrapped engine or a blown head gasket,” he said.
Rather than discarding them, the Relectric team believes people should have an easy option to keep the frame of the vehicle on the road, while dispensing with the complicated and costly engine.
“Our team wants to make that price more affordable, so people can convert their Honda Civics,” said Kapoor.
The Relectric team is working on open source solutions to this problem. There is already a small community of people who retrofit cars — often classic cars — with electric engines and batteries.
Kapoor said two things are holding back the average backyard mechanic from doing this. One is the cost of batteries, and the other is the complexity of newer cars in which just about everything has a sensor wired to a central computer.
“What our team is trying to do is make a central controller,” he said. “It would take care of the motor, the batteries, and it would also integrate the stuff that you already had with our own custom sensors.”
A team of students at the University of Calgary wants to make it easier to convert gas-powered vehicles to electric.
The Relectric Car Team is currently converting a 1966 Volvo into an electric vehicle, but as they do it they’re working on software and hardware solutions that could be applied to just about any vehicle.
Relectric founder Ratik Kapoor said the team’s goal is to make retrofitting an old vehicle about as affordable as purchasing a good used car.
“There are so many cars being scrapped every year when all they have is a scrapped engine or a blown head gasket,” he said.
Rather than discarding them, the Relectric team believes people should have an easy option to keep the frame of the vehicle on the road, while dispensing with the complicated and costly engine.
“Our team wants to make that price more affordable, so people can convert their Honda Civics,” said Kapoor.
The Relectric team is working on open source solutions to this problem. There is already a small community of people who retrofit cars — often classic cars — with electric engines and batteries.
Kapoor said two things are holding back the average backyard mechanic from doing this. One is the cost of batteries, and the other is the complexity of newer cars in which just about everything has a sensor wired to a central computer.
“What our team is trying to do is make a central controller,” he said. “It would take care of the motor, the batteries, and it would also integrate the stuff that you already had with our own custom sensors.”
© Brendan Miller/Postmedia
Ratik Kapoor, Founder of Electric Car Team Schulich, poses for a photo. Kapoor is part of a team of students at the University of Calgary who are working on systems that will help people convert fuel cars to electric vehicles. Photo taken in March. Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
By making their software open source — freely available to anyone — Relectric hopes people anywhere will be able to work on the software and engineer solutions for specific circumstances.
“We’re hoping once we start putting some substantial stuff out there, people start using it and we can spark a community around EV conversions that integrates everything together and is more friendly to the end-user.”
Before the pandemic, the team was working in the basement of a local used electric car dealership.
Jim Steil offered his 1966 Volvo station wagon to the team as their project car. It was something he’d been hoping to do himself. After connecting with the team, he found their enthusiasm infectious.
“I saw myself in them, and it was almost like I had found a part of my family which I did not know existed,” said Steil. “Sometimes everything just lines up, and this was one of those times.”
By making their software open source — freely available to anyone — Relectric hopes people anywhere will be able to work on the software and engineer solutions for specific circumstances.
“We’re hoping once we start putting some substantial stuff out there, people start using it and we can spark a community around EV conversions that integrates everything together and is more friendly to the end-user.”
Before the pandemic, the team was working in the basement of a local used electric car dealership.
Jim Steil offered his 1966 Volvo station wagon to the team as their project car. It was something he’d been hoping to do himself. After connecting with the team, he found their enthusiasm infectious.
“I saw myself in them, and it was almost like I had found a part of my family which I did not know existed,” said Steil. “Sometimes everything just lines up, and this was one of those times.”
© Brendan Miller/Postmedia A team of students at the University of Calgary are working on systems that will help people convert fuel cars to electric vehicles. Photo taken in March. Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
But once the lockdown began, physical distancing requirements hindered their ability to meet and work on the car.
Kapoor said the team has been able to keep working on software solutions in the six months since. They’re developing touch-screen software that will give drivers feedback on their vehicle, including information on battery life and estimated range — the type of bells and whistles that come built into new electric cars but which are difficult to add to conversions.
Now that schools are back in session, Kapoor and his team are planning to get under the hood of the Volvo this fall with physical distancing protocols in place.
brthomas@postmedia.com
But once the lockdown began, physical distancing requirements hindered their ability to meet and work on the car.
Kapoor said the team has been able to keep working on software solutions in the six months since. They’re developing touch-screen software that will give drivers feedback on their vehicle, including information on battery life and estimated range — the type of bells and whistles that come built into new electric cars but which are difficult to add to conversions.
Now that schools are back in session, Kapoor and his team are planning to get under the hood of the Volvo this fall with physical distancing protocols in place.
brthomas@postmedia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment