G
Guest
·TdS Report #48: Team Profile: Soljourner 1, Soljourner 2
The team from West Philadelphia High School are back. This year they have both
their pure electric, Soljourner 1, and their hybrid-electric, Soljourner 2.
Each has been in a Tour de Sol, but not both together.
Paul Silberschatz is a mechanical engineering student at the University of
Pennsylvania. "I was a mentor to the team, to help them design and build
Soljourner 2." It is an extra-ciricular activity with some classroom work.
"There are two of us who come in and are paid through a grant from the National
Science Foundation. We help them with the hands-on work, being there with
them, and showing that this is not just a high school thing. That colleges do
the exact same thing and that they can do it just as well if not better. We
try to show them the thinking process they need to go through if they want to
build something like this. It is a big project.
"Most of our team are 9th graders. There are some upper-class members, but the
9th grade really stepped up and did a lot of the work. When you are freshman,
how do you go about designing your own body for a car? It is a long process.
It took us about 9 months to do everything. How do you decide where you are
going to put the windshield? The seats? How do you design molds? You build a
lot of mock-ups, sit in them, try them out. Because if you mess up you don't
have a spare nine months."
For liability reasons, the high school students don't drive the cars. Instead
the college mentors do.
Paul has some prior experience with EVs. "I have an electric Karmen Gia back
home that I built with my dad."
Anesha Ali-Hunter is a former West Philly High student, currently at Penn
State, who has come back to be part of the Soljourner 1 team. "I finished
school about 2 weeks ago. The first day I was home I was up at West Philly
working on the car. I missed it, after being with the program for 2 years. We
weren't able to bring Soljourner 1 to the Tour last year because the controller
failed the night before the race. It was actually working 2 days after we got
home afterwards. It is in absolute perfect condition now. This is the best it
has ever been!"
Simon Hauger, math and physics teacher and principle advisor to the West Philly
team, has been presented the George Bradford EV Teacher Award this year. "He
deserved every bit of it. He is the best teacher I've ever had. Even in
college now I compare every professor to him. He's taught us so much. He
grades my English papers. He does it all and cares so much about the students
on the team. He bends over backwards to make sure we get done what needs to be
done." Is that love returned? "Definitely. Definitely."
Parting thought: "Penn State should enter the race next year so I can be on
their team."
Cyndi Wise and Ismail Nmakki are seniors who were at last year's Tour de Sol
with Soljourner 2. It was obviously a Jeep Wrangler back then, with a
generator on the back to charge the batteries in the vehicle. What is it now?
"It is a student-built body. It's better! The body is made of fiberglass and
honeycomb." They created a mold from wood and foam. They then shaped the
fiberglass and honeycomb around the mold and then lay another sheet of
fiberglass on top.
Last year the generator used propane. This year the generator is a diesel,
running bio-diesel fuel. The battery pack has grown from 24 blocks to 34
blocks.
"We started about October, and we finished a week ago. It is running great."
Vehicle Name Soljourner 1
Vehicle Number 21
Category BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES (BEV)
vehicle type category PbA
Team Name W. Phila. H.S. EV Team
Organization West Philadelphia High School
City Philadelphia
State PA
COUNTRY Philadelphia
www http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/access
science/soljourner
new this year? returning team and car
No People in Project 20
Time to Build 1000 person hours
Who Built class club
Vehicle Manufacturer Saturn
Vehicle Model Year 1993
Vehicle Reg Car/Truck
Vehicle Type Class Light Duty (car, truck, van)
Vehicle Type Division Prototype
Vehicle Type Model SL2
motor kW continuous 27 kW
motor kW peak 50 kW
motor manufacturer MTS Automation
motor type Brushless DC
Energy Storage Manufacturer East Penn - Deka
Energy Storage System PbA
Batteries series
Battery East Penn - Deka/PbA
Battery 28 cells/ series/ $2800
Battery 25,000 Whrs/ 336 V/ 1400 lbs
battery voltage 336 V
battery blocks 28 cells
battery watt hrs 25,000 Whrs
battery weight 1400 lbs
battery cost $2800
control system manufacturer MTS
control system type automation
regenerative braking? Regen
charger capacity 2800 kW
charger current 21 A
charger input voltage 208 V
charger manufacturer Zivan
charger on board? Off board
charger type Trans/rectif
Plug Type 6-30P
Conversion Conversion
body material Plastic body
frame material Steel frame
Length both L: 15 ft/ 0 in
Width both W: 6 ft/ 6 in
Height both H: 5 ft/ 4 in
# seats 2
Weight pounds 3650 lbs
Mfg GVW 3650 lbs
lbs of persons 150
lbs of cargo 300
brake front type Front Drum Front Disc
brake rear type Rear drum
engine size liters
Fuel Type Biodiesel
No of Passengers 2
number of tires 4
tire manufacturer Michelin
tire model Proxima RR 15(205-60-15)
tire type Low roll resist
Range miles 350 miles
Program blurb The West Philly Electric Vehicle Team is back for
its third year. The students have made a number
of improvement to the electric Saturn and are
looking forward to a successful run. The
Soljourner2 is equipped with a 36HP MTS brushless
DC motor, Deka batteries, and Michelin low
rolling resistant tires. Boeing tested the
improved aerodynamics in their full size wind
tunnel.
Vehicle Name Soljourner 2
Vehicle Number 22
Category HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES (HEV)
vehicle type category Hybrid electric
Team Name W. Phila. HS EV Team
Organization West Philadelphia High School
City Philadelphia
State PA
COUNTRY USA
new this year? returing team, new car
No People in Project 20
Time to Build 1000 person hours
Who Built class club
part of school curriculum? Yes
Vehicle Manufacturer Jeep Wrangler
Vehicle Model Year 1995
Vehicle Reg Car/Truck
Vehicle Type Class Light Duty (car, truck, van)
Vehicle Type Division Prototype
motor kW continuous 27 kW
motor kW peak 50 kW
motor manufacturer MTS Automation
motor type Brushless DC
Energy Storage Manufacturer East Penn - Deka
Energy Storage System PbA
Batteries series
Battery East Penn - Deka/PbA
Battery 34 cells/ series/ $3000
Battery 500 Whrs/ 408 V/ 680 lbs
battery voltage 408 V
battery blocks 34 cells
battery watt hrs 500 Whrs
battery weight 680 lbs
battery cost $3000
control system manufacturer MTS Automation
control system type Brushless Drive
regenerative braking? Regen
charger capacity n/a kW
charger current 45 A
charger input voltage 200 V
charger manufacturer Zivan
charger on board? Off board
charger type Trans/rectif
Plug Type 10-30P
Conversion Purpose-Built
body material Composite body
frame material Steel frame
Length both L: 15 ft/ 6 in
Width both W: 5 ft/ 8 in
Height both H: 5 ft/ 0 in
# seats 2
Weight pounds 3750 lbs
Mfg GVW 5000 lbs
lbs of persons 150
brake front type Front Disc
brake rear type Rear Drum
Hybrid Architecture parallel
engine size 500 liters
fuel effeciency n/a mpg
fuel tank capacity 10 gal
Fuel Type Biodiesel
number of tires 4
tire manufacturer Michelin
tire model P205/R15
tire type Low roll resist
Range miles 180 miles
Program blurb THE HYBRID ELECTRIC JEEP #22 This is the third
conversion for this once gas powered Jeep. Now a
hybrid, running on biodiesel, a DC motor, and
Deka lead acid batteries. The students also
built their own generator, and a whole new body
(not pictured here) with materials donated by
Hexcel. This is the third conversion for this
once gas powered vehicle. The hybrid electric
Jeep is equipped with a 36HP MTS brushless DC
motor getting its power from 34 Deka DCU1
batteries (408 Volts). The students built their
own generator with a Yanmar 2V78 20HP diesel
engine running on biodiesel fuel and a high
efficiency 20HP MTS brushless DC motor.
- - - -
The complete set of Tour de Sol Reports for 2002 can be found at:
http://www.AutoAuditorium.com/TdS_Reports_2002
The complete set of past Tour de Sol Reports can be found at:
http://www.FovealSystems.com/Tour_de_Sol_Reports.html
- - - -
The above is Copyright 2002 by Michael H. Bianchi.
Permission to copy is granted provided the entire article is presented
without modification and this notice remains attached.
For other arrangements, contact me at +1-973-822-2024 .
- - - -
For more on the NESEA Tour de Sol, see the web page at
http://www.nesea.org
- - - -
Official NESEA Tour de Sol information is available from the sponsor,
the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at
413 774-6051 , and 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 , and
[email protected] . All media enquiries should be addressed to ...
Jack Groh
Groh Associates
[email protected] email
401 732-1551 telephone
401 732-0547 fax
401 952-0886 cell/pager
The team from West Philadelphia High School are back. This year they have both
their pure electric, Soljourner 1, and their hybrid-electric, Soljourner 2.
Each has been in a Tour de Sol, but not both together.
Paul Silberschatz is a mechanical engineering student at the University of
Pennsylvania. "I was a mentor to the team, to help them design and build
Soljourner 2." It is an extra-ciricular activity with some classroom work.
"There are two of us who come in and are paid through a grant from the National
Science Foundation. We help them with the hands-on work, being there with
them, and showing that this is not just a high school thing. That colleges do
the exact same thing and that they can do it just as well if not better. We
try to show them the thinking process they need to go through if they want to
build something like this. It is a big project.
"Most of our team are 9th graders. There are some upper-class members, but the
9th grade really stepped up and did a lot of the work. When you are freshman,
how do you go about designing your own body for a car? It is a long process.
It took us about 9 months to do everything. How do you decide where you are
going to put the windshield? The seats? How do you design molds? You build a
lot of mock-ups, sit in them, try them out. Because if you mess up you don't
have a spare nine months."
For liability reasons, the high school students don't drive the cars. Instead
the college mentors do.
Paul has some prior experience with EVs. "I have an electric Karmen Gia back
home that I built with my dad."
Anesha Ali-Hunter is a former West Philly High student, currently at Penn
State, who has come back to be part of the Soljourner 1 team. "I finished
school about 2 weeks ago. The first day I was home I was up at West Philly
working on the car. I missed it, after being with the program for 2 years. We
weren't able to bring Soljourner 1 to the Tour last year because the controller
failed the night before the race. It was actually working 2 days after we got
home afterwards. It is in absolute perfect condition now. This is the best it
has ever been!"
Simon Hauger, math and physics teacher and principle advisor to the West Philly
team, has been presented the George Bradford EV Teacher Award this year. "He
deserved every bit of it. He is the best teacher I've ever had. Even in
college now I compare every professor to him. He's taught us so much. He
grades my English papers. He does it all and cares so much about the students
on the team. He bends over backwards to make sure we get done what needs to be
done." Is that love returned? "Definitely. Definitely."
Parting thought: "Penn State should enter the race next year so I can be on
their team."
Cyndi Wise and Ismail Nmakki are seniors who were at last year's Tour de Sol
with Soljourner 2. It was obviously a Jeep Wrangler back then, with a
generator on the back to charge the batteries in the vehicle. What is it now?
"It is a student-built body. It's better! The body is made of fiberglass and
honeycomb." They created a mold from wood and foam. They then shaped the
fiberglass and honeycomb around the mold and then lay another sheet of
fiberglass on top.
Last year the generator used propane. This year the generator is a diesel,
running bio-diesel fuel. The battery pack has grown from 24 blocks to 34
blocks.
"We started about October, and we finished a week ago. It is running great."
Vehicle Name Soljourner 1
Vehicle Number 21
Category BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES (BEV)
vehicle type category PbA
Team Name W. Phila. H.S. EV Team
Organization West Philadelphia High School
City Philadelphia
State PA
COUNTRY Philadelphia
www http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/access
science/soljourner
new this year? returning team and car
No People in Project 20
Time to Build 1000 person hours
Who Built class club
Vehicle Manufacturer Saturn
Vehicle Model Year 1993
Vehicle Reg Car/Truck
Vehicle Type Class Light Duty (car, truck, van)
Vehicle Type Division Prototype
Vehicle Type Model SL2
motor kW continuous 27 kW
motor kW peak 50 kW
motor manufacturer MTS Automation
motor type Brushless DC
Energy Storage Manufacturer East Penn - Deka
Energy Storage System PbA
Batteries series
Battery East Penn - Deka/PbA
Battery 28 cells/ series/ $2800
Battery 25,000 Whrs/ 336 V/ 1400 lbs
battery voltage 336 V
battery blocks 28 cells
battery watt hrs 25,000 Whrs
battery weight 1400 lbs
battery cost $2800
control system manufacturer MTS
control system type automation
regenerative braking? Regen
charger capacity 2800 kW
charger current 21 A
charger input voltage 208 V
charger manufacturer Zivan
charger on board? Off board
charger type Trans/rectif
Plug Type 6-30P
Conversion Conversion
body material Plastic body
frame material Steel frame
Length both L: 15 ft/ 0 in
Width both W: 6 ft/ 6 in
Height both H: 5 ft/ 4 in
# seats 2
Weight pounds 3650 lbs
Mfg GVW 3650 lbs
lbs of persons 150
lbs of cargo 300
brake front type Front Drum Front Disc
brake rear type Rear drum
engine size liters
Fuel Type Biodiesel
No of Passengers 2
number of tires 4
tire manufacturer Michelin
tire model Proxima RR 15(205-60-15)
tire type Low roll resist
Range miles 350 miles
Program blurb The West Philly Electric Vehicle Team is back for
its third year. The students have made a number
of improvement to the electric Saturn and are
looking forward to a successful run. The
Soljourner2 is equipped with a 36HP MTS brushless
DC motor, Deka batteries, and Michelin low
rolling resistant tires. Boeing tested the
improved aerodynamics in their full size wind
tunnel.
Vehicle Name Soljourner 2
Vehicle Number 22
Category HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES (HEV)
vehicle type category Hybrid electric
Team Name W. Phila. HS EV Team
Organization West Philadelphia High School
City Philadelphia
State PA
COUNTRY USA
new this year? returing team, new car
No People in Project 20
Time to Build 1000 person hours
Who Built class club
part of school curriculum? Yes
Vehicle Manufacturer Jeep Wrangler
Vehicle Model Year 1995
Vehicle Reg Car/Truck
Vehicle Type Class Light Duty (car, truck, van)
Vehicle Type Division Prototype
motor kW continuous 27 kW
motor kW peak 50 kW
motor manufacturer MTS Automation
motor type Brushless DC
Energy Storage Manufacturer East Penn - Deka
Energy Storage System PbA
Batteries series
Battery East Penn - Deka/PbA
Battery 34 cells/ series/ $3000
Battery 500 Whrs/ 408 V/ 680 lbs
battery voltage 408 V
battery blocks 34 cells
battery watt hrs 500 Whrs
battery weight 680 lbs
battery cost $3000
control system manufacturer MTS Automation
control system type Brushless Drive
regenerative braking? Regen
charger capacity n/a kW
charger current 45 A
charger input voltage 200 V
charger manufacturer Zivan
charger on board? Off board
charger type Trans/rectif
Plug Type 10-30P
Conversion Purpose-Built
body material Composite body
frame material Steel frame
Length both L: 15 ft/ 6 in
Width both W: 5 ft/ 8 in
Height both H: 5 ft/ 0 in
# seats 2
Weight pounds 3750 lbs
Mfg GVW 5000 lbs
lbs of persons 150
brake front type Front Disc
brake rear type Rear Drum
Hybrid Architecture parallel
engine size 500 liters
fuel effeciency n/a mpg
fuel tank capacity 10 gal
Fuel Type Biodiesel
number of tires 4
tire manufacturer Michelin
tire model P205/R15
tire type Low roll resist
Range miles 180 miles
Program blurb THE HYBRID ELECTRIC JEEP #22 This is the third
conversion for this once gas powered Jeep. Now a
hybrid, running on biodiesel, a DC motor, and
Deka lead acid batteries. The students also
built their own generator, and a whole new body
(not pictured here) with materials donated by
Hexcel. This is the third conversion for this
once gas powered vehicle. The hybrid electric
Jeep is equipped with a 36HP MTS brushless DC
motor getting its power from 34 Deka DCU1
batteries (408 Volts). The students built their
own generator with a Yanmar 2V78 20HP diesel
engine running on biodiesel fuel and a high
efficiency 20HP MTS brushless DC motor.
- - - -
The complete set of Tour de Sol Reports for 2002 can be found at:
http://www.AutoAuditorium.com/TdS_Reports_2002
The complete set of past Tour de Sol Reports can be found at:
http://www.FovealSystems.com/Tour_de_Sol_Reports.html
- - - -
The above is Copyright 2002 by Michael H. Bianchi.
Permission to copy is granted provided the entire article is presented
without modification and this notice remains attached.
For other arrangements, contact me at +1-973-822-2024 .
- - - -
For more on the NESEA Tour de Sol, see the web page at
http://www.nesea.org
- - - -
Official NESEA Tour de Sol information is available from the sponsor,
the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at
413 774-6051 , and 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 , and
[email protected] . All media enquiries should be addressed to ...
Jack Groh
Groh Associates
[email protected] email
401 732-1551 telephone
401 732-0547 fax
401 952-0886 cell/pager
