Student venture RORMaxx Automotive
utilizes ultracapacitors, solar panels, and airflow recovery to
construct an alternative energy vehicle.
RORMaxx Automotive, a student venture
out of Harvard-Westlake High School, is constructing a wind and
electric powered vehicle. Eighteen-year-old high school seniors Rory
Handel and Maxx Bricklin are developing the first student-built
wind-assisted vehicle called Formula AE.
The ultracapacitors utilized in the
vehicle will provide easily accessible power to the car at all
times, avoiding the voltage drop problem in normal batteries. The
ultracapacitors will address the high acceleration demands of a car,
boosting the Formula AE car from zero to sixty miles per hour in
less than 4 seconds. The vehicle will be limited by its gearing to a
top speed around 155 miles per hour.
Formula AE will implement solar
technology in the form of newly developed flexible thin-film
photovoltaic cells. Laminated with a flexible flouropolymer, the
cells will be protected from any damage and will be flexible enough
to fit the aerodynamic form of the vehicle.
The battery of the car is projected
to have a range greater than 200 miles per full charge, and should
handle a full one-hour race without difficulty. The charge time of
the battery is less than 1.5 hours, but a prototype battery
currently in development could cut the charge time to just six
minutes.
Finally, the vehicle will recover
wind flow energy using intakes channeling air to a turbine fan. By
constructing ducting to achieve an optimal wind speed, an
appropriate generator Awill convert the airflow into usable energy
for the car.
The Formula AE car is meant to be a
technological showcase to inspire the automotive world to embrace
these rarely thought of alternative sources of energy. Although
there are currently no plans for commercial production, the car
would likely have a projected retail between $80-150k (USD).
The Formula AE Prototype will be
completed in August 2009.
