Interchangeable energy sources for hybrid vehicles

This paper outlines the design strategy for the University of Johannesburg´s (UJ´s) alternative energy vehicles which were entered into the 2012 South African Solar Challenge (SASC). The SASC is an event which occurs every two years, and showcases novel alternative energy technologies. A methodology is presented which was used in the construction of two prototype alternative energy vehicles that allows various interchangeable energy sources to be used for sustained driving. In order to demonstrate this concept, four different energy sources are presented in this paper and sample results are presented. The energy sources are as follows: a hydrogen fuel cell, a microturbine generator, a liquid petroleum gas generator, and a standard petroleum generator. The two hybrid vehicles developed by the UJ came first and second in the Greenfleet Technology class, and one of the vehicles placed fourth overall with respect to distance travelled.