Integration Of Modern Energy Storage Design Practices Into University Automotive Engineering Programs

As automotive technology surges forward at an ever increasing pace, Argonne National Laboratory works to keep the US Department of Energy sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions current by introducing university students to cutting edge tools, technologies, and design practices. One major addition to the AVTCs is energy storage system design. Traditionally, AVTC energy storage systems were purchased components which students integrated into vehicles. However, with advanced vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt nearly to market, the AVTC steering committee found that off the shelf energy storage solutions were no longer adequate to enable students to sufficiently push efficiency and performance envelopes. The competition’s scope has been expanded to enable teams to design custom energy storage solutions using cutting edge Lithium Iron Phosphate battery technology and design processes. AVTC organizers worked with the competition’s primary energy storage sponsor, A123 Systems, to develop the logistical and technical infrastructure to define schedules, deliverables, training, technical support, and provide hardware to the teams. Students worked through the summer of 2009 preparing comprehensive design reports which were evaluated by a team of industry subject matter experts from A123 systems, Argonne National Laboratory and General Motors. The design process brought computational fluid dynamics, dimensional analysis, thermodynamics, cooling system design, control strategy development, failure identification and mitigation, and finite element analysis up to new levels within the competition. Passage of these technical evaluations was necessary to receive energy storage hardware. These engineering experiences help the AVTC continue to cultivate the talent required to support modern automotive research, development, and design. Introduction to the AVTC Over the span of twenty two years, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Program managed by Argonne National Laboratory and sponsored by the US Department of Energy as strived to bring government, industry and academia together to meet timely automotive related challenges in an educational environment. Primarily, these challenges have been powertrain centric focused on reducing energy consumption and tail pipe emissions. The engineering work is performed by multiple disciplines of college level engineering students thereby exposing students to the types of problems they will need to solve if they chose to work in the automotive industry. In the competition’s early years, most of the engineering was performed by mechanical engineering students. Students modified engines to run on various alternative fuels such as propane, methanol, and ethanol. As technology evolved, so did the competitions as hybrid powertrain architectures entered the field. This expanded the required engineering skill sets to include electrical and electro-mechanical engineering experience to the program. In 2004, Challenge X began which expanded the competition series time frame from 1 year to 3. Argonne, the US DOE, and General Motors worked to design a program that integrated a modified vehicle development process into the academic environment. This program further tasked students with P ge 15783.2 more advanced control system development and design thus bringing yet another engineering discipline to the table. In 2008, EcoCAR the NeXt Challenge kicked off with headline sponsors General Motors and the US DOE working with Argonne to integrate the latest in automotive engineering technology in the collegiate environment. The EcoCAR competition consists of the following 17 universities: Missouri Science & Technology