Team Profile - 'Garnet One'

OK. I admit it. When I saw the entrant from Swarthmore College last year, I didn't hold out much hope for it completing the race (an opinion I kept to myself). It was a bit of a rats nest of wires and tubes. Not only was the electrical wiring all over the place, and none of it seemed to be labeled or color coded, but the tubing for the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel also seemed a bit distracted; not quite sure where it was going. But the team proved me wrong. In spite of a few problems, they kept it going and did quite well. They even won a prize: the Blue Sky Club "Team Spirit Award", for staying happy in the face of adversity.

Well, 'Garnet One' (Number 62) returns with a new team and a very neat and refined look befitting the lines of the Beretta car used as a platform. And I said so when I spoke with the team members. "That's because we basicly changed everything except for the major components like the DC motor and the internal combustion engine. We rewired the whole car, fixed up mechanical problems we had before, strengthened the battery box, replaced the exhaust system, fixed the cooling system, and added an instrument panel full of analog meters. Last year all the measurements were fed into a computer and it was a pain in the neck. It didn't work and it was difficult for the driver and passenger to know what was going on with the car." Although it has taken a lot of time and a few parts, there were not any major expenses to be paid, so funding has not been a major issue.

The original team members, who created the car as a senior design project, graduated last year and are now working. The team this year is all new members, and the car has been their senior project.

Finding CNG was a problem for the team last year, as we traveled up through Vermont and New Hampshire. They were given permission to plug in to charge for the portion of the route where they could not find fuel. This year they did their homework and have found fuel all along the way.

Most of the past 12 months the car has been in the shop being overhauled, but during the past two months they've put about 400 miles on it, getting it ready for the NESEA Tour.

Vehicle Number - 62
Vehicle Name - Garnet One
Category - USDOE HYBRID CATEGORY
Team Name - Swarthmore HEV Team
No People in Project - 8
Organization - Swarthmore College
Town - Swarthmore PA
Description - 96 Chevy Beretta (Pba + CNG)
New this year? - returning
Motor - Advanced DC; FBi 401A; 21 kW cont, 60 kW peak
Batteries - Trojan; PbA; 1200 lbs; 16,200 Wh, 120 V Series
Controller - Curtis 1221B-7401; Transistor
Charger - K&W; Transformerless
Construction - Chevrolet Beretta; Steel Frame; Steel Body
Hybrid - Kawasaki; 2-cylinders; 317 cc; Series; CNG
No of Passengers - 2
Maximum Speed - 75 mph
Range - 150 miles
Capacity - 350 pounds
Weight - 3700 pounds
Brakes - Front Disk; Rear Drum; Non-Regen
Wheels Tires - 4 Ameri; G4's

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The above is copyright 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.