Formula Hybrid racing at Illinois Institute of Technology: Academic year 2008/2009

Abstract

In May 2009, the third annual Formula Hybrid competition was held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. This student event is a chance for several teams from all over the world to compete against one another in a real world engineering environment. The growth of the competition has been very evident over the three year period—with 28 teams participating in 2009. This growth has sparked a passion at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) for designing, building, and racing hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Involvement in the competition has allowed for IIT to teach its students this advanced technology not only in the class room, but also with real world applications where students have been able to take the ideas and methods they have learned and implement them in this one of a kind competition. The WISER team at IIT fielded two student-designed hybrid electric vehicles of differing drive trains for the 2009 competition. These vehicles are cutting edge on many levels including lithium polymer and lithium phosphorus batteries, ultra-capacitors, a continuously variable transmission, and an electronic differential.