Development of a Light Short Range Electric Commuter Vehicle

In order to promote electric vehicle research in Darwin, the Northern Territory Centre for Energy Research in association with the Northern Territory Power and Water Authority (NT PAWA) is developing its own short-range electric commuter vehicle. Outlined below is the procedure used to determine the vehicle specification including range, acceleration and top speed as well as a justification of the type of vehicle used. Also outlined is the vehicle propulsion system which includes an innovative DC-DC converter utilising Maxwell ultracapacitors in parallel with Zinc Bromide batteries and a variable gap axial flux permanent magnet brushless DC machine (BDCM).