An Electrified Learning Experience - Electrical Engineering Technology Project Wins Again at the Toyota Green Grand Prix

The SUNY Broome team made their annual pilgrimage to Watkins Glen International Raceway on Friday, April 4th to compete in the one-of-a-kind fuel-efficiency competition known as the Toyota Green Grand Prix. Their 2000 Chevy Metro, converted to a fully electric vehicle, found itself on familiar ground at the top of the podium once again, winning the grand prize “Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicle” for the 5th time.

This win was particularly satisfying, and provided a huge morale boost as we headed straight from this event back to the college, where we finished preparing our combat robots for the National Robotics League “Rage in the Cage” competition the following day, Saturday, April 5th, where we placed second overall.

The car features a 24 kWh Nissan Leaf battery pack, an HPEVS AC51 electric motor, a Curtis 1239e motor controller, and a 100-watt solar panel on the roof that charges the 12-volt battery to run lights and accessories, an AEM dash display, and an Orion battery management system. These systems are the result of generations of students working on this continuous project.

This fast paced, competition driven project helps prepare students for the agile and competitive workforce. Performing under pressure is an essential skill for the workforce, and these competitions help students hone those skills. In this year’s competition the students also assisted off the track, working with event organizer Robert Gillespie to modernize the scoring system used for evaluating electric vehicle performance.

The event also features talks from industry leading companies such as BAE Systems & Toyota. Students were able to network with BAE systems Hybridrive employees and learn about their hybrid bus technology. As well as listen to a technical presentation from Toyota on their up-and-coming solid state battery technology.

The team would like to thank their sponsors, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, RedBarn Technology Group, and the IEEE Club. They would also like to thank their professors and Technical Assistant, David Miller, for all of their help with this project.