Cars are heavy. Try pushing one.
All that mass takes a lot of energy to propel, and using oil for propulsion creates a lot of pollution. To make matters worse, most of us commute alone in cars which could drive across the country at 110 km/h carrying five people and towing a caravan.
Most of our driving is done in cars which are too big, too heavy, and too dirty. There’s got to be a better way.
With this in mind, the University of South Australia developed 'Trev' (two-seater renewable energy vehicle), a simple, low mass car which is perfect for urban commuting. It's light enough to be pushed by a two year old.
In 2007 Trev drove 3,000 km across Australia using just $33 worth of green electricity. Now, with sponsorship from Google and others, Trev is currently driving around the world in Zero Race: the first around-the-world race for electric vehicles powered by renewable energy. Trev will drive 30,000 km in 80 days (plus shipping time) using about $400 worth of green electricity.
Trev was initially designed to carry one or two people, to have a range of 120 km, a top speed of 120 km/h and to be recharged in under 3 hours. This would suit the commuting needs of most people.
Trev has been significantly upgraded by ‘Team Trev’ to drive around the world. Team Trev is a group of volunteers who have borrowed Trev from UniSA; secured sponsorship from Google, Galaxy Resources, EcoGreen Electrical and ABN Newswire; and made some major upgrades to Trev. These upgrades include a bigger battery to increase driving range to 250 km, a different motor and better suspension, brakes and instrumentation.
Zero Race started in Geneva on 16 August, and has subsequently covered 16,000 km. We've driven across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and China.
Besides Trev, Zero Race entrants include ZeroTracer (a high-performance enclosed motorcycle), a Vectrix electric scooter and a custom Korean electric car. This is the inaugural Zero Race, and it is expected to be held every couple of years to showcase electric vehicles to the world.
The next leg of Zero Race starts in Vancouver - from which we'll drive across North America to Cancun in Mexico and arrive in time for the UN Climate Change Conference. Zero Race vehicles will feature at this conference as a viable solution to our future urban personal transportation needs.
The final leg of Zero Race will take us from Portugal back to Geneva. We'll finish our circumnavigation in late January 2011.
Come join us on our journey www.teamtrev.com
Trev. It’s green.
Posted by Andrew Dickson, Guest Blogger from Team Trev. Team Trev kicked off their North American leg this weekend.
