Baja Electrification Project
Problem statement
The growing movement to switch from gas vehicles to electric vehicles is becoming more popular in today’s society. From environmental factors, noise factors, and energy efficiency, the benefits are becoming more relevant according to the National Library of Medicine [1]. Because of this, our group proposed to convert an existing gas power baja car provided by the UW-Madison Baja SAE team to a fully electric vehicle as a demonstration and an instrument to quantify driveline loads on different terrains. Even though it would be ideal to design and create the entire electric system for the Baja vehicle, it is too costly and complex to complete within two semesters, therefore, our team will focus on evaluating existing systems available on the market. One market that is currently making the switch to electrification is the small utility equipment industry [2]. We will use motor controllers and batteries from this market to carry out our project. [1] J. Carey, “The other benefit of electric vehicles,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol. 120, no. 3, p. e2220923120, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2220923120. [2] “Here’s why electric lawn mowers are cutting down the gas-fueled…,” Canary Media. Accessed: Sep. 19, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/electrification/heres-why-electric-lawn-mowers-are-cutting-down-the-gas-fueled-competition
Team members
Jacob Horsfall – facilitator
Cale Kubisiak – communicator
Jesse Gregorich – accountant
Lucas Dye – admin
Client
UW Baja SAE Team
Student Org