Smart Car Hybrid

With continually increasing gas prices and a demand for decreased emissions, this project explores the use of electric powered drivetrains within a hybrid vehicle. The thought process is to take a two wheel drive, internal combustion powered vehicle and implement an electric drive system on the other two wheels to create a through the road hybrid. This was a challenge because most production vehicles don\u27t lend themselves well to a hybrid conversion. A custom front sub frame was designed and manufactured to allow the electric motor and transmission to be fitted to the vehicle to overcome this problem. An electric motor and drivetrain has been acquired and is being installed in the front of the 2005 Smart Car. The electric drivetrain would power the front wheels under light load, while the internal combustion would propel the rear wheels under needed circumstances. Research was conducted using the federal emissions testing procedures to select a proper final drive ratio and transmission. The range of the batteries was also simulated and examined using the federal test procedure. The results obtained were used to verify the motors and batteries selected for the vehicle