Ultracapacitor System
Club History
In 2011, a Cal Poly alumnus donated a 1977 Porsche 911S for use in student-led projects. A team of student engineers acquired the Porsche in 2013 with the primary objective of converting the car to an electric vehicle. They spent the next few years installing donated Maxwell Ultracapacitors. Last spring, upon graduation, the club leadership passed control of the club to our team with the understanding that we would continue the work they began. The club’s newly circumscribed goal is to remove the ultracapacitors, which have expired and were impractical, and implement a lithium-ion battery system with regenerative brakes. We plan to use this incredible opportunity to learn as much as we can about the mechanical systems of automobiles and the electrical drive systems that are gaining momentum across the globe.
Club Growth & Development
When we joined the Electric Porsche Club, its membership had shrunk to a few students whose primary focus was on senior projects — work on the car had ground to a halt. Recognizing a leadership with waning involvement was not in the club’s best interest, the older members transferred complete control of the club to us. Since then, we have spent much of our time developing safety documents, recruiting members, working on a proof-of-concept project, and researching practical means to achieve the club’s long term goal: to remove the capacitors currently installed in the car and replace them with lithium-ion batteries.
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Why We're Here
This brings us to the main point of this portfolio: why we think we fit in well with your company. The revival of this club has been somewhat analogous to a startup. Although our initial members had experience in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, none of us were knowledgeable in electric vehicle engineering. We think we would fit well into a start-up culture because of our demonstrated initiative and ability to learn quickly.
With so much to do, how did we know where to start? Luckily, because of our team’s intellectual curiosity, we were able to divide and conquer a diverse set of problems without micromanagement. We are passionate about our fields and the vision for the club, and with little to no direction the members of our team have developed the club into what it is today. Over the next few months, we plan to continue expanding the club and working toward our goals. We are excited to apply what we learn along the way to a company in the electric vehicle industry. To infinity and beyond.
