Alt Fuels North Haven

05/25/2010

Back safely on North Haven, and back to school. Huge props to Jesse Davisson and Emmett Hodder for bringing their smarts and positivity to this experience. Thanks for making it happen. We couldn't have done it without you.

05/24/2010

A good story about the competition.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Ken Barbour spent less than $5,000 and four months converting his yellow convertible into an all-electric vehicle.

05/24/2010

We're on the road back to Maine, stopped for the night in Connecticut. Emmett and Jesse (with co-drivers Andrew, Ann-Marie and Jack) ran the E•van 67 miles on a single charge Sunday... farthest ever!

05/23/2010

It lives and its better then ever

05/22/2010

"V2G" Pt. 4
Essentially, we want to start with a low amount of electricity in the EV at the start of the day so we can fill it up with clean solar power. This is an interesting challenge, however, because we need to balance our electricity usage while traveling around town with charging when the photovoltaic array allows us to charge faster.

"V2G" by Emmett H and Andrew M

05/22/2010

"V2G" Pt. 3
This means we will be able to charge at a high rate around noon, but cannot charge as quickly earlier or later in the day. Once it’s dark out the excess electricity stored in the vehicle from charging off the photovoltaic array during the day can be pumped back into the electricity grid, allowing us to have a negative carbon footprint for the day.

05/22/2010

"V2G" Pt. 2
We will make a number of outings over the course of the day, visiting specified landmarks around the town as we do so. While not driving, we will be charging the EV on a schedule based around the energy production of the Morningstar Solar Home. Energy generated by the house increases during the morning to its peak output around noon and then tapers off until the sun goes down.

05/22/2010

"V2G" Pt. 1
This year the 21st Century Automotive Competition added a “Vehicle to Grid”, or V2G, component. Saturday’s events simulate a day of owning an electric car and living in Penn State’s Morningstar Solar Home which is a small house that was built for a competition that utilizes several technologies to increase the efficiency of the house.

05/22/2010

05/22/2010

You must watch this tire cam video of the Mini-E on the slalom course.

05/20/2010

Safe arrival to Penn State. Now to dinner and strategizing.