The Duke Electric Vehicles (DEV) team is composed of undergraduates at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.[1] The team designs, builds, and competes with a manned, electrically powered supermileage vehicle each year. The team was founded in 2011 and has competed in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas for 7 years. On July 21, 2018, their hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, "Maxwell", achieved the world record for the most fuel efficient prototype vehicle with a fuel efficiency of 14,573 MPGe, previously set in 2005 by ETH Zurich's Pac-car II at 12,600 MPGe.[2]
Originally Duke Eco-Marathon, Duke Electric Vehicles was founded in 2011. It has competed in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas prototype battery-electric category each year since then with the following outcomes.
2014 2nd place Prototype Battery-electric : 310 mi/kWh[3]
2015 2nd place Prototype Battery-electric : 214 mi/kWh[4]
The Maxwell vehicle utilizes a carbon-fiber monocoque body with aluminum steering, motor mount, and safety harnesses fastened to the body via carbon fiber inserts.[5] Although originally competing in the battery-electric category for the 2017 and 2018 Shell Eco-Marathon, Maxwell was outfitted with a hydrogen powertrain for the world record attempt. The vehicle is chain-driven by a 3-phase brushless motor transmitting power to the rear wheel.
The Gemini vehicle utilizes a carbon-fiber monocoque body with aluminum steering, motor mount, and safety harnesses fastened to the body via carbon fiber inserts. The vehicle is propelled by a 3-phase brushless hub motor modified from an electric bike. The electrical power is generated by a Horizon H-100[6] fuel cell supplied by pure hydrogen gas.[7]
Gemini achieved 1st place in the prototype hydrogen category at the 2018 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas at Sonoma, CA. The innovations in Gemini's electrical system and fuel cell research also earned it a technical innovation award at the 2018 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas.[4] Research and implementation of the new powertrain was led by Gerry Chen and Shomik Verma, under the supervision of club president Patrick Grady.[8] Experimental schematics of the system were made available online.[9]
Guinness World Record
On July 21, 2018, Duke Electric Vehicle's "Maxwell" hydrogen fuel cell vehicle achieved the world record for the most fuel efficient prototype vehicle.[2] The vehicle's efficiency is recorded as 0.01614 liters of 95 grade petrol (equivalent) per 100 kilometers of driving distance. This is equivalent to 14,573 MPGe.
