The Development of an Electric Car

This paper presents the development of Wright State's electric racecar. The car utilizes two AC induction motors and controllers and is propelled by a timing belt/pulley assembly on the rear axle. Conventional lead-acid batteries are adopted due to low installation cost. Differential equations that describe traction and propulsion capabilities as well as power consumption were formulated. Instead of using section-to-section estimation, “closed-form” solutions for the traction, propulsion and power requirement were derived. The simulation results for vehicle traction and propulsion are presented. The car was tested on tracks and successfully raced in various events.