Preparations for mounting the Electric Motor

Last Saturday (23rd May), after a few weeks of theory, we have now started work on the Electric Hybrid conversion of our bike !

First we removed the aerodynamic shell and the rear wheel.

After taking measurements and inspecting the existing mount-frame, we identified some modifications needed to fit a brand new Electric Hub motor (Custom built & supplied at low cost, thanks to our sponsor, AAEV).

To do so we had to spread the rear forks of the bike slightly with a worm drive car jack. We also had to carefully file out the slots for the motor axle to fit in precisely.

During the week we fabricated plates to strengthen up the rear end of the bike to handle the extra torque the Electric Motor will be applying to the mount and frame.

We have also temporarily mounted the batteries to be ready for the first performance tests next Saturday ... using the Electric Motor (only) ...

After a discussion we also identified some minor improvements that we can possibly make to the aerodynamic shell and we also identified some strengthening and weight reduction changes we can make to the basic framework.

James ('Brains') (GSC Team Member - 'Blue Thunder Pilot')

Morgan's Supa IGA Gisborne - Sponsor - Thank You

Gisborne Secondary College has been the very grateful recipient of the local IGA E.S.P community rewards scheme. Jay Morgan from IGA happily presented the College with a cheque for $679.00 on Thursday 14th May 2009.

The funds will go towards the College team involved in this year’s RACV Energy Breakthrough.

This is great news for teacher Paul Calleja and the team of students who will be taking part in the 24 hour race in Maryborough in November. They have put in a lot of hard work on their vehicle and it will be in tip top shape in time for the race.

The RACV Energy Breakthrough is a competition that brings students from all over Australia together to compete in Human Powered and Energy Efficient Hybrid vehicles in a twenty four hour non-stop race.

We look forward to following their progress leading up to the big day.

Watch Out World ;)

Over the past few weeks, AAEV and associates have had the priveledge of educating 3 very bright young men being James, Liam and Nathan.

These 3 young lads have absolutely soaked up every morsel of information we have transferred to them ... and had a lot of fun doing so :)

The detailed training, knowledge transfer and topics we have discussed so far are:

• Batteries - types, characteristics and capabilities
  
• Watt ?
  
• Ohms law
• Peukerts Law
• Electric vehicle components - DC Brushless Motors, DC Brushless Motor Controllers, Throttles & Pedalec-PAS.
  
• Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Design and Design Optimisation Fundamentals.
• The 'Design Outcome' - balancing Velocity (Speed), Thrust(Acceleration) and Endurance(Distance) given a finite energy source ... traction batteries (a battery motive pack).
• Energy Management - utilisation and conservation.
  

They have also completed personal research and homework in relation to the above topics.

So far they have also given formal and public speaking presentations to the Gisborne SC school council and to parents and prospective students at the College's open day on 14th May (comprising an exhibition stand with Electric Bicycles and an 'on the road' 'real world', 100% Electric Car !)

These Young Gentlemen, we are proud to say, are almost ready to start fitting components to their trike to turn it into a high performance, high endurance, Racing Light Electric Vehicle (LEV)(Human-Electric Hybrid).

Then its time for the team to carry out ongoing "Real world performance testing" and design optimisation.

The racing tricycle being converted is the much feared and race proven "SPEEDY GONZALES".

It will be restored to its original name of "BLUE THUNDER", under a swag of old and new sponsors, including "AAEV".

On the way to the culmination of Three Days in November ...

If you can help these Fine Young Gentlemen in their quest to achieve the maximum distance over 24hrs in a LEV hybrid vehicle (Hybrid, Human-Electric), in the RACV Energy Breakthrough Challenge, please contact us by email:- gsc.aaev@aaev.com.au