Before we got to the fun of cutting and welding, the team worked out several different drafts of what the car might look like.

In the Spring semester of 2008, this was our final model:

The Redshift has the chassis of a Subaru Sambar, which is a type of microvan, and the body of a Honda Civic.  The Civic’s cabin was sliced lengthwise and widthwise to make it shorter and slimmer, then welded back together to form a smaller body and fitted to the Sambar’s chassis.

Welding the lengthwise halves back together, February 2009:

Cornell 100+ MPG also presented the Redshift at the New York State fair in Syracuse last year, drawing an extremely diverse crowd with the partly finished vehicle.

The Redshift, designed to be a two door coupe, would seat four passengers and have 10 cubic feet of cargo space.  It was outfitted with a UQM Power Phase 125 motor which could hit a peak of 167 hp (125kW) and a 1.4L Volkswagen TDI engine, which runs on B20 Biodiesel (20% Biodiesel 80% conventional Diesel).  The battery pack is made up of lithium iron cells manufactured by Chang’s Ascending Energy.  The batteries, with a capacity of 15.5 KWh and weighing in at 500lbs create no heat generation issues, are relatively cheap to manufacture, and provide high bursts of energy.

By this time, the Redshift was estimated to achieve over 100 MPGe, could accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in 5.5 seconds, and run for 60 miles on electric power only, and 200 miles total.

On November 7th and 8th of 2009, the Redshift was taken out for its first test drives.  A video of the test drives can be found here: http://ow.ly/Aml5

For the body panels, the main materials sponsor is Amber Composites, located in the UK with General Plastics Corp also donating the foam used for making the panel molds.  The Cornell Sailing team also played a major part in the fabrication and design of the body panels.

We began milling the foam late in the summer of 2009, then spent the entire fall semester sanding, painting, and prepping the female “plugs” used to layup the final panels which are made out of fiberglass.  The last panels were completed in late February.  They are extremely lightweight and strong and also more affordable than carbon fiber.

The team also partnered with the Morrisville State College Autobody Program in creating a transition panel that we were not able to fabricate ourselves.  The panel is made of metal and is attached directly to the back of civic passenger compartment.  The students and faculty from the Autobody Program also completed the bodywork, smoothing out seams, and removing any dents other other imperfections, and painted the vehicle.

And the final product…

April, 2010:

Simply put being part of PIAXP is AWESOME.  It is not only exciting that we are actually building a car that gets 100+ MPG, but we are also designing a car that is commercially viable. Who knows, a car and complimenting technology designed by Cornell students could end up on the market!

Being on the Cornell 100+ MPG team is also one of the most fulfilling opportunities to gain hands on experience in engineering and apply what we have learned in the classroom.  As a student majoring in Operations Research Engineering, I was able to utilize course work skills such as optimal scheduling through Gantt Charts, modeling and simulating different configurations of a mechanical component before the team actually builds it, and even basic accounting.

Our favorite part about being on the team is spending time working hard with other really cool engineers. Sure we’re all talented individuals, but the group is a blast to hang out with on the weekends. Pulling all nighters for a technical deliverable is certainly a form of bonding time, but so are the socials thrown after we passed a TD =). And like all hungry engineers, there’s no better way to cure 8 food-less hours in the High Volt Lab than a barbecue picnic with burgers on the grill and Ithaca’s finest brew.

Another really cool thing about being a part of this team is sharing our knowledge and teaching others how to be more environmentally aware. As a university organization, part of our innate duty is to educate the community, whether it’s on campus or in Ithaca, about sustainable transportation. We are especially looking forward to showing off the car on Ho Plaza on Earth Day where we will be informing the student body on sustainable practices (as well as showcasing our new paint job!). These are just some of the many great benefits of being a part of PIAXP and a Cornell Engineering Project Team.

What come with any project are the challenges. Day to day drags mostly consist of balancing class work while completing our tasks for the project. While many members take the project team for credit, we often spend considerably more time (ie: 20+ hours) a week working on the car than in a similar class.  Sacrifices (in terms of grades, hours of sleep, number of friends [just kidding about the last part]) are a dime a dozen but more importantly, we enjoy our work. Also as with any type of team, raising money is always a challenge. Given the recent downturn, finding a large corporate sponsor is akin to finding a hotelie in the library on a Friday night (ie: almost impossible).