West Philly high school team builds hybrid

The team, which has received national prominence, is one of 43 teams in an international competition.

West Philadelphia’s Hybrid X Team has been called the “multi-million dollar after-school project” by NBC’s Today Show, which chronicled the team two weeks ago.

The EVX, or Electronic Vehicle, team is a prominent high school automotive group that operates out of West Philadelphia High School. The team, currently in its 10th year, is composed of 10 to 15 students and mentors who design alternative fuel vehicles, using existing technology to build cars that have low-carbon emission and high fuel efficiency.

Simon Hauger, the team director of West Philadelphia’s EVX, said the team is always thinking ahead and “thinking of always trying to do more, [which] brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible.”

The Henry Ford quote personifies the team; it is a belief the team has made reality. It received national recognition when the members were invited to participate in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition in New York to build hybrid cars.

Just 120 teams were chosen internationally to participate – EVX being one. Now, the EVX team and 42 other teams continue to the next round.

“The X Prize is a competition to spur innovation in the automotive industry by true competition,” Anna Cohen, the team’s manager, said.

The goal of the X Prize is to build two cars that can get 100 miles to the gallon and have lower than average carbon emissions. The EVX team is building a Ford Focus and a Factory Five GTM kit car. The winning team will receive $10 million.

The students building the automobiles are inner-city at-risk youth, and the team gives students a creative, after-school outlet while teaching them useful skills that can be employed in the future. The team also provides an example of how students can strive to achieve sustainability and help preserve the environment.

Gerri DiLossi, the automotive tech teacher for the team and teacher at West Philadelphia High, explains how students benefit from being part of the EVX team.

“The kids use common sense, troubleshooting … they learn how to operate equipment properly and be successful mechanics,” DiLossi said. “They are proud of what they do … like all life lessons, you learn it, and you want to put it into play.”

Sowande Gay, 17, said he loves being a member of EVX team because “being on the team, we get to do more than we usually do in class.

“I like to work with my hands and build things,” he added. “We also get [public relations] and writing experience. It helps us get a head start in the automotive industry.”

He said the team is also building marketing experience by competing.

“We have to come up with a business plan to market at least 10,000 vehicles per year,” Gay said.

Jenna Bush documented the team for the Today Show, which aired Oct. 20. Members of the team and team director Hauger drove the hybrid car on a national airing of the morning NBC program. The team has also received publicity in the New York Times and American Way magazine, which is where Bush first found out about the team.

The cars will race in different divisions in the competition between April and September of 2010. Team manager Cohen is very optimistic about the team reaching the finish line.

“We are the underdog,” Cohen said. “I want to be the Appalachian State of the car competition. I think we’ll make it to the finals.”

Despite being up against tough competition, the team remains confident in their efforts. Ron Preiss, team coordinator and teacher, summarized the EVX’s team optimistic and tenacious philosophy.
“If you can imagine it,” Preiss said, “we can do it.”

Jessica Herring can be reached at jesssica.herring@temple.edu.

Hybrid hype

Six mechanical engineering students recently came into possession of a car worth as much as $15,000 thanks to Temple – but not to take it for a test ride.

The students are working to build the next-generation hybrid car out of a 2001 Audi TT.

The 11-month project, nicknamed HEATT for Hybrid Electric Audi TT, has four undergraduates and two graduate students working to completely eliminate the standard internal combustion engine and build an experimental hybrid electric drive system.

“With this project, it’s pretty much what a mechanical engineer wants to do, just design and build stuff,” senior Pete Strahs said. “You get to work hands on and implement everything you were taught in class. The project requires a lot of energy and time on our part, but it’s going to be a great result.”

The project’s blueprint requires the vehicle to run off three sources of power: lithium batteries, a generator and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, which use hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity. 

The goal is to increase the efficiency, range and performance of the vehicle while minimizing harmful emissions.

The group chose the Audi TT for its lightweight, “smooth and curvy” frame, as well as its aesthetic and spacious interior, Project Adviser Dr. Parsaoran Hutapea said.

What makes this project so special, Hutapea said, is the opportunity to display the engineering program’s raw talent.

“Hey, we have a very good program here, and look, these guys can compete with any engineering kids anywhere in the states,” he said. “This shows that we have a valid program.” 

The four undergraduates, Strahs, Christophe Garant, Keith Schafer and Jordan Weaver, will satisfy their senior design project requirements with this endeavor. 

The assignment includes a group presentation to administrators, professors and peers, including a poster and an accompanying 15-page paper detailing what they learned through the experience. 

“One of the good things that Temple has done is allowing us to complete a project like this as undergraduates,” Strahs said. “Other larger schools would be more of a Master’s or Ph.D. project with undergrads in a supporting role … but here, with this project, it’s largely on our shoulders with support from graduate students in other areas.”

The doctoral candidates participating in the project are Georgiy Diloyan, a native of Ukraine who worked across Europe before coming to Temple, and Luis Breziner, who earned his Master’s in engineering from Temple in May 2009. Both bring extensive knowledge of PEM fuel cells.

The students spent an average of 40 to 45 hours per week working on the car this summer. 

Since classes began and while they await parts, the group spends 15 to 20 hours per week working in the composites lab on the second floor of the School of Engineering and Architecture building.

Before getting their hands dirty, the students used the month before the car’s arrival to prepare by perusing texts and watching YouTube videos on the dichotomy of the hybrid engine. 

The students said they hope to have the car electric by October and a working hybrid by April, when the design projects due.

As far as talking about the remodeling process, the team members are keeping their lips sealed. They said they hope to eventually apply for a patent on their reworked 2001 model and don’t want to risk giving away valuable strategies.

The car, which was made possible by an Extramural Programs grant of $250,000 and is owned by Temple, has an uncertain future after its completion.

“As the technology keeps changing, the car will most likely change with it,” Hutapea said, “and continue to be a guinea pig for future research.”

Tom Rowan Jr. can be reached at
thomas.rowan@temple.edu.