Baseline Testing of the Club Car Carryall With Asymmetric Ultracapacitors

TITLE AND SUBTITLE:
Baseline Testing of the Club Car Carryall With Asymmetric Ultracapacitors

AUTHOR(S):
Dennis J. Eichenberg

REPORT DATE:
November 2003

FUNDING NUMBERS:
WBS-22-251-30-12

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER:
E-14215

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546-0001

REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED:
Technical Memorandum

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER:
NASA TM-2003-212705

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES:
Responsible person, Dennis J. Eichenberg, organization code 7720, 216-433-8360.

ABSTRACT:
The NASA John H. Glenn Research Center initiated baseline testing of the Club Car Carryall with asymmetric ultracapacitors as a way to reduce pollution in industrial settings, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and reduce operating costs for transportation systems. The Club Car Carryall provides an inexpensive approach to advance the state of the art in electric vehicle technology in a practical application. The project transfers space technology to terrestrial use via
non-traditional partners, and provides power system data valuable for future space applications. The work was done under the Hybrid Power Management (HPM) Program, which includes the Hybrid Electric Transit Bus (HETB). The Carryall is a state of the art, ground up, electric utility vehicle. A unique aspect of the project was the use of a state of the art, long life ultracapacitor energy storage system. Innovative features, such as regenerative braking through ultracapacitor energy storage, are planned. Regenerative braking recovers much of the kinetic energy of the vehicle during deceleration. The Carryall was tested with the standard lead acid battery energy storage system, as well as with an asymmetric ultracapacitor energy storage system. The report concludes that the Carryall provides excellent
performance, and that the implementation of asymmetric ultracapacitors in the power system can provide significant performance improvements.

SUBJECT TERMS:
Electric automobiles; Capacitors

NUMBER OF PAGES:
28

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