This project was designed to develop and implement a purpose-built all-electric off-road vehicle to support the future of electric-vehicle (EV) research at UCCS. This vehicle served as a testbed for future research in the batteries program and will continually be improved upon by funds obtained by the batteries team for lithium-ion battery research. DRIVE ON (in tandem with other battery research here at UCCS) contributed to increase awareness of sustainable energy, promote a sustainable environment and sustainable social and economic values, and help develop a community engaged in active migration towards sustainable energy.
DRIVE ON provided valuable experiences and knowledge to UCCS students with building and research of EVs to increase usable energy range and efficiency and increased campus awareness of green energy. Students designed and built the EV. This incentivized students from multiple disciplines to become involved in sustainability via the electric drive research area.
GAF was one of many sponsors of this project as many donations and much funding from various source has been made available to the batteries team for the vehicle. Once drivable, the vehicle was available for participation in campus events and will continually grow awareness of the GAF and green, sustainable energy while in use around campus. With a new battery pack and re-designed system, the vehicle should be sustainable with little long-term maintenance. Simply plugging in the vehicle every month / couple of months should keep the vehicle operational. The vehicle served as a catalyst to extend on-going funded student research programs and ultimately attract greater numbers of undergraduate and graduate students to the batteries program and continually raise awareness of sustainable energy.