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Friday, 19 November 2010

A high-performance sports car, converted to run on renewable energy with a maximum speed of around 200km/hour and a range of 110km, was launched at The University of Western Australia today.

As part of UWA's Renewable Energy Vehicle Project (REV), the 2002 Lotus Elise S2 joins UWA's first battery-electric conversion, the REV Eco, based on a Hyundai Getz.  Since 2008, the REV Eco has completed almost 10,000km without any major problems.  The cars were converted by a team of engineering students who manage the REV projects.

The contrasting pair of an attractive sports car - the Lotus - and a small commuter vehicle - the Getz - demonstrates the possibilities of electric cars.

UWA's Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson said in times of rising fuel prices, worsening air-pollution and global warming, finding ways to create sustainable, environmentally friendly transportation was a fundamental goal.

"UWA's REV initiative is designing and developing technologies for the transport of the future," Professor Robson said.  "In the process it is helping to train a new generation of engineers to find solutions to different engineering challenges."

Professor Thomas Braunl, Director of the University's Centre for Intelligent Information Processing Systems, said although electric cars had been around for more than a century, recent advances in motor, battery and controller technology made them a viable alternative to petrol cars.

"Emission-free power generation for charging the vehicle is an important part of the REV strategy, as power generated by burning fossil fuels would only shift the pollution problem elsewhere," Professor Braunl said.  "This is why REV generates its own clean power using grid-connected solar panels."

The project's major sponsors are GULL Petroleum, Galaxy Resources Limited and the Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport (CREST).

Media references

Professor Thomas Braunl (Director, UWA Centre  (+61 8)  6488 1763  /  (+61 4) 02 017 315
for Intelligent Information Processing Systems)
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716

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Campus Management — Sustainable Initiatives