Beginning in 2001 and as recently as 2008, AEV employees have won and participated in four major USABC programs. Please visit USABC here, for more information.
In 2008, AEV installed and delivered packs and electric drive systems into multiple NEV and EV platforms. One of these systems, the AEV NEV Test Vehicle, is shown picking up a heavy load of lumber at Home Depot. This was an 84 V AC drive internal project developed using AEV battery pack technology and control strategies.
In 2006 and 2007 AEV built and delivered multiple military electric vehicles under contract to the U.S. Air Force. The CERV ("Clandestine Electric Reconnaissance Vehicle") shown here utilized a 50 kW AC induction motor powered by a 12.2 kWh polymer battery pack. Vehicle performance was excellent: 0-60 mph in 5.5 sec and ability to handle extreme off-road conditions without getting stuck. AEV built five vehicles under this project. One of the CERVs was configured for remote site photovoltaic charging.
In 2002, while working with LG Chem Ltd. of Korea, AEV employees built and raced the ER2 Electric Racer, which set the electric record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. This record beat earlier records by GM and Honda in 1997 and 1999, respectively, using older NiMH battery technology. We significantly improved on our record in 2003. The vehicle used a 165kW AC induction motor system powered by a battery pack configured from experimental cells co-developed with LG Chem.
Dr. Rivers has years of experience developing electric drive systems. In 1991, while working at Hughes Electronics, Dr. Rivers was the Program Manager for the GM Impact/EV1 program at Hughes Aircraft Company, with Tier-1 responsibility for the motor controller and the inductive charging system. The drive train utilized a 102 kW AC induction drive system with MOSFET and IGBT vector drive inverters. Dr. Rivers has also initiated and managed other electric vehicle programs while at Hughes, including passenger vehicles and electric buses that utilized multiple AC induction motors and in-house developed chargers. The buses shown above were field tested at LAX and at Yosemite National Park.
