Formula SAE Electric Powertrain
Location
CSU 203
Start Date
10-4-2018 1:05 PM
End Date
10-4-2018 2:05 PM
Student's Major
Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology
Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Mentor's Name
Bruce Jones
Mentor's Department
Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Description
Electric vehicles have been gaining a lot of attention over the past few years. Due to restrictions on emissions, many vehicle manufacturers are looking to add electric vehicles. The aim of this research was to design an electric powertrain system and then retrofit it to a Formula SAE chassis. The Formula SAE competition is for students to engineer and design a small race car. In order to build an electric powertrain, we looked at the main components. The biggest focus was on the battery management system (BMS). The battery management system that was used is an Elithion Lithiumate Pro. The BMS controls 84 lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4) battery cells by a small cell board that is attached to each cell. The cells are wired in series to supply 268 volts to the electric motor. Testing was done to make sure the BMS could balance all the cell voltages while charging and discharging. The biggest challenge was getting all the cells to communicate with the BMS. Every cell board was tested and the communication wires were redone. After the batteries were connected to the BMS, they were put through load testing. The load testing discharged the batteries based a simulated road course and environment. The results showed that the BMS was able to keep the batteries within a specified voltage and temperature range. The benchmarks that were obtained will be used by future Formula SAE electric teams.
Formula SAE Electric Powertrain
CSU 203
Electric vehicles have been gaining a lot of attention over the past few years. Due to restrictions on emissions, many vehicle manufacturers are looking to add electric vehicles. The aim of this research was to design an electric powertrain system and then retrofit it to a Formula SAE chassis. The Formula SAE competition is for students to engineer and design a small race car. In order to build an electric powertrain, we looked at the main components. The biggest focus was on the battery management system (BMS). The battery management system that was used is an Elithion Lithiumate Pro. The BMS controls 84 lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4) battery cells by a small cell board that is attached to each cell. The cells are wired in series to supply 268 volts to the electric motor. Testing was done to make sure the BMS could balance all the cell voltages while charging and discharging. The biggest challenge was getting all the cells to communicate with the BMS. Every cell board was tested and the communication wires were redone. After the batteries were connected to the BMS, they were put through load testing. The load testing discharged the batteries based a simulated road course and environment. The results showed that the BMS was able to keep the batteries within a specified voltage and temperature range. The benchmarks that were obtained will be used by future Formula SAE electric teams.
Recommended Citation
Ford, Samuel; Storm Lenz; Mitch Boike; and Wichai Yang. "Formula SAE Electric Powertrain." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 10, 2018.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2018/oral-session-09/2
