EVC Projects
2024-2025
The Electric Vehicle Club is a student-run organization that focuses on giving all members hands-on engineering experience through EV-related projects. Members get to contribute to one or multiple of a variety of different project options and get the opportunity to test out their designs. Our flagship event each year is the EV Grand Prix, which takes place at the Purdue Grand Prix Track in early to mid-April. While electric go-karts are one of the main focuses and draws to the club, EVC also works on several other EV projects!
Something that makes our club unique is our multi-project organization which allows us to cater to many different student interests! We are excited to announce this upcoming year’s project lineup including a new hovercraft project, three electric go-karts, electric motorcycle conversion, a team dedicated to teaching technical skills through small projects, and Lithium battery development! More information about each project is described below.
Electric Karting Team
The karting team builds electric racing go-karts to compete in Purdue's EV Grand Prix and additional exhibition races in the fall. We assemble and maintain parts, create wiring harnesses, and collect data on kart performance to maximize our speed and efficiency. Members learn CAD software, circuitry, data acquisition and analysis, and mechanical maintenance skills to build the fastest kart on the track.
Hovercraft Team
This year, hovercraft team will begin development of an electric, single person Hovercraft, or ACV (Air Cushion Vehicle). This project has very few design parameters, allowing the team to take the project in any direction they see fit. This will provide Hovercraft team members with extensive experience in chassis design, closed system power distribution, controls, and various aspects of system integration.
Technical Tinkering Team
Technical Tinkering is a new team this year focused on approachable mini-projects to teach Mechanical & Electrical Skills. The team will be working on areas such as learning how to CAD, 3D print, solder, and wire circuits. They will choose projects based on the interests of the team members but some ideas include, RC planes or cars, motorized couch, and PCB nametags.
Battery Design Team
Battery team is focused on developing and testing custom battery packs for our various projects. This includes Cell selection and characterization, Case design and fabrication, BMS design and integration, along with testing in all of these areas. Battery team members will use CAD, Manufacturing processes, analog and digital design, PCB design, and many forms of iterative testing.
