Meet Trev, the Two-seater, Renewable Energy Vehicle
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 01.22.08
Staff and students at the University of South Australia have designed and built a prototype of what they reckon might be the future commuter car for Australian cities. Trev sounds rather impressive. He goes from 0 to 100kph in 10 secs, has a top speed of 120 km/h, with a travel range of 150+km between charges of his 7kWh 44kg lithium ion polymer battery.
When charged from mains power he costs you $1 AUD per 100km to run, using what is said to be 1/5th of the energy of conventional car. Not that there is anything conventional about Trev.
His three low-mass alloy wheels with low rolling resistance tyres are attached to an aluminium honeycomb chassis, a foam and fibreglass body with acrylic canopy. He’s the process of being registered as a roadworthy vehicle on SA roads. He has room for driver, one passenger and two overnight bags. (The single door opens toward the footpath, not the road.) And he is not hard on the eye either.
Oh, yeh, if you buy your electricity as 100% solar or wind GreenPower from your energy provider, then Trev truly does become a renewable energy vehicle. At least, that’s the aim of the project. ::Trev
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