Zeus

Urban Concept Class

The Urban Concept Car is a more practical vehicle meant to bridge the gap between the prototype vehicle and the vehicles you see on the road today. With the advent of consumer level electric cars, we converted our Urban Concept to a battery electric vehicle in 2018. It only competes at the Shell Eco-Marathon. Teams are required to design the vehicle with a minimum of four wheels, larger stance, headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other practical considerations that the average city vehicle requires today.

Motor

Honda GXH 50

Chassis

1" Nomex

Our current Urban Concept vehicle uses a carbon fibre-Nomex sandwich where 1" of lightweight Nomex honeycomb is sandwiched between layers of carbon fibre reinforced polymer on both sides. The wider width of the Urban Concept chassis allows for the chassis thickness to be reduced without compromising rigidity. The total weight of the chassis (including all components except the engine) is approximately 120 lbs.

Casper

2-Gear Box

Steering

Formula 1 Style

The Urban Concept steering system is based on Formula 1 style steering. The steering wheel operates like those found in regular cars, and switches for controls such as the starter motor, lights, and windshield motor are situated in the centre area of the wheel. Steering for this vehicle is operated through the front wheels.

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MARK XIV

Prototype Class

The Prototype vehicle is a three wheeled, single-passenger vehicle meant to push the limits of fuel efficiency. It competes in the Shell Eco-Marathon, and SAE Supermileage competitions. This competition class has very few limits on design, allowing a number of creative solutions in order to achieve extremely high fuel mileage. With optimization of aerodynamics, weight, and rolling resistance, we maximize the performance of our heavily modified engine.

Engine

Briggs Stratton 206

The engine used in our Prototype vehicle is a Briggs & Stratton Junior206. This engine is standard for all teams in the SAE Supermileage Competition. This stock engine is 205cc’s with a maximum horsepower rating of 8 horsepower and a torque of 10 ft-lb. This year, a custom cylinder head has been designed to increase the compression ratio from 8.5:1 to 12:1. This will achieve a decreased displacement from 205cc to 68cc, resulting in a greater thermal efficiency.

Chassis

1.5" Nomex

Our current Prototype vehicle uses a carbon fibre - Nomex sandwich where 1.5" of lightweight Nomex honeycomb is sandwiched between carbon fibre and Kevlar reinforced polymer on both sides. The use of thicker Nomex than the Urban Concept is to compensate for the narrower chassis, which is reduced in size to minimize weight. The total weight of the chassis (including all components except the engine) is less than 80 lbs.

Drivetrain

Jackshaft

The newly innovated powertrain is configured as a two-stage, fixed-pulley reduction system. As the name implies, there are two pulley reductions from the engine to the wheel. The flexible drive of the powertrain has been switched from roller chains to carbon fiber timing belts to optimize weight, while maintaining a high strength. In addition, timing belts can deliver comparable efficiency to a roller chain system, however, there is less maintenance associated with timing belts. By designing our vehicle to run at a maximum speed of 50 km/hr, this system allows our engine to transmit power at its optimal speed.

Steering

Handlebars

The Prototype vehicle steering system is similar to that of a motorcycle, where there are two handlebars for steering, a throttle, and braking handlebars. The space inside for the driver is very limited and the driver drives lying down, so this design allows us to use the confined space efficiently. Steering for this vehicle is operated through the front wheels.

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