Project Update

I described the possible research projects I could work on a few posts ago (maybe more than a few, sorry). Anyways I was assigned my part of the project last week. I will be working on the Lotus Elise as part of the REV Project (see link in links section --->). Basically, for those who don't already know, the project is to transform the Lotus Elise from a gas powered vehicle to an entirely battery powered vehicle. My specific task will be to redesign the structural support of the car in order to account for the added weight of the battery system. The batteries are extremely heavy. Now the goal of the project is to transform the car without compromising performance, while also keeping the changes as unnoticeable as possible. This means we have to add as many batteries as possible to maintain maximum performance (it's a sports car after all). However, since it is a very small car, there is little room for the batteries. The plan is to hang 32 of the batteries from two rear supports below the boot (trunk in Aussie). These supports were not designed to hold the weight and will most likely break under the load of the battery cage. So that's where I come in. I have to redesign these supports to hold the added weight, not too tough of a job at first.

But then the team realized that they needed to have easy access to the batteries for study and repair, making my job a lot harder. There is a control box that will sit directly above the rear battery cage. I have to figure out how to make this control box slide out from above the batteries so that they can be worked on. It will be a tough project, but it should also supply me with plenty of valuable engineering experience.

Here's a picture. Red arrows point to the beams I must redesign, and the location of the rear battery cage is drawn as a blue box. (click to enlarge)