deDion Axle Senior Project

The sponsor, EV Grid Inc. is a company looking to the future with the development of a vehicle to grid infrastructure. The vehicle in development is a Ford E-250 Van which had been converted to electric drive with a front motor, rear drive layout. The sponsor wanted to move the electric motor to the rear and develop an axle to support this change. By eliminating the driveshaft, a more efficient use of battery space could be utilized. The goal of this project is to design and fabricate a prototype deDion rear axle which incorporates a system of drive components that are both relatively easy to manufacture and service. The original axle loading was analyzed to determine the necessary strength and fatigue properties of the new axle using Modified-Goodman and Miners criterion. When the calculations were finished, the design was finalized and moved into the manufacturing stage. All of the individual parts for the axle were fabricated at Cal Poly and then delivered to EV Grid in order to be welded together. The completed deDion axle, which replaced the solid rear axle, reduced the unsprung weight, used commercially available driving components and can be quickly installed into the vehicle