Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies

Origin of the CAVT UA’s CAVT was established in fall 1998 through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Alabama Department of Transportation provide funding to UA for advanced vehicle research Current DOT funding is $800K/yr less “tax”

Vision of the CAVT Promote the development of efficient, safe, secure, economical, durable, comfortable, user-friendly and environmentally-conscious vehicles for meeting the transportation needs of America through discovery, research and education.

CAVT Goals Develop a new generation of innovative vehicles Conceive and apply computer-based tools Discover new knowledge through research and development Educate engineering and science professionals for the vehicle industry

CAVT Achievements CAVT is now in its 5 th year. CAVT sponsored 24 studies in first four years; 12 are currently underway To date, 74 fractional FTE faculty-years, 10 post-doc- years, 58 GRA-years, 10 speakers, and many undergraduates funded Projects in all departments in the College of Engineering and the Dept. of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences Estimated $2.3 million in research funding provided from CAVT/DOT, plus $1.4 million UA and other cost share Spin-offs and initiation: over $5 million For each DOT dollar spent, $2 is added from UA, partner, spin-off and research initiation

Future Activities CAVT reauthorization funds for next 5-6 years will be requested in 2003 (?) from Federal Transit Authority rather than from FHA, the current funding source Request is aimed primarily at fuel cells and hybrid-electric vehicles

Future Technical Thrusts Fuel cells NVH and controls Materials and manufacturing processes for vehicles Hybrid electrics (IC engine + electric motor) Award winning Ballard/UA/ Freightliner APU project

Partnering & Research Initiation Alabama and SE region offer good opportunities for fuel cell and hybrid electric research- CAVT will go find them! Note that Mercedes and Hyundai both build fuel cell & hybrid electric vehicles, and make buses. Mercedes M-Class, Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda Odyssey- made in Alabama!

Leveraging Major CAVT proposals require partnering Leveraging with partners adds about 30% to the value of CAVT funded research Partners have included major companies, e.g. and government agencies– strong relation- ship is developing with Argonne National Lab

UA Fuel Cells Research The University of Alabama has made tremendous strides in fuel cells research over the past 5 years Fuel cell research began with seed funding from the Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies Funding levels exceed $1M/yr on our campus, and involve 14 faculty in 4 departments

UA Hybrid Vehicles Research Strong foundation for hybrid vehicles research: Longstanding IC engine program focusing on alternative fuels and diesel engines (~$500K/yr) Electromechanical Systems Lab (EMSyL) is very successful in power electronics and large electric motor research (~$500K/yr)

Electromechanical Systems Lab UA produced electric vehicle testbed:

Structural Acoustic Lab Ballard/UA/Freightliner award-winning fuel cell APU project Detailed spatial vibration measurements Vibration isolation, structural damping Source location, directivity, and other acoustic characterizations Active control analysis, implementation Structural vibration and acoustic radiation modeling

$1M Earmark Research Program with Argonne Nat’l Lab Four research areas plus education component for upcoming year: Nanoscale design of autothermal reforming catalysts (~$225K) Design and integration of fuel cells (~$225K) Dynamic and acoustic studies (~$125K) Hybrid electric vehicle research (~$325K) Student education and training activities (~$100K)

Growing Hyundai relationship Hyundai Plant, Asan, South Korea 300,000 cars/yr Hyundai is building a plant near Montgomery to manufacture 300,000 Santa Fe SUVs and Sonata sedans per year

Growing Honda and Mercedes relationships Honda now doubling Odyssey plant near Lincoln Mercedes-Benz revamping M-Class, building new assembly plant for new vehicle near Tuscaloosa

Build Toyota Relationship Toyota is expanding its engine manufacturing facility near Hunt Toyota builds V-8 engines for Tacoma and Tundra pickups Annual production of 250,000 engines per year

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