Illuminati Motor Works
Official Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Contender

Learn more about the: Team • Car

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Car

Illuminati Motor Works (IMW) “Seven” is a four seat battery electric vehicle (BEV) that was constructed from scratch specifically for the Progressive Automotive X Prize. The steel frame and foam/fiberglass body were constructed by hand. (No, it is not a Volkswagen or a Tucker.)

Download the 2011 dealership window stickers (264 KB PDF)

Here are some facts at a glance:

Batteries:	99 Thundersky 4.25 volt lithium iron phosphate batteries (TS 100AH) = approx. 33 Kwh
Motor:	200 horsepower MES DEA electric motor: MES 200-330 induction (compare to Chevy Volt's 149 HP motor)
Charger:	Manzanita Micro PFC-40 (220v, 40 amp off board charger will charge the car overnight)
Inverter:	MES-DEA - TIM600 (100kW)
Transmission:	Modified 1997 Geo Metro manual transmission (now 3 speed).
Seats:	4 seats: 2 front (95th percentile), 2 rear-facing back (75th percentile)
Doors:	4 gull-wing doors
Car length:	17.5 feet (About 1.5 feet longer than a 1995 Ford Taurus)
Width:	Seven's width tapers from front to back, but it's about 70 inches wide at max. - (1 inch wider than a Toyota Prius)
Tires:	Bridgestone B381 P185/70R14 at 42 PSI
Weight:	2900 pounds Vehicle Test Weight was 3149 lbs (249 lbs of test equipment was added during the coast down runs at Chrysler.) (The Chevy Volt has an estimated curb weight of 3520 pounds)
Top Speed:	(Theoretical): 225 MPH for 20 minutes (Applied): True top speed has yet to be tested. Seven has been driven up to 130 MPH.
Range:	200+ miles (Chevy Volt has an EPA city estimate of 20-50 miles on the battery alone. Nissan Leaf testing shows 47-138 miles per charge depending on weather, speed, and use of A/C.)
Miles Per Gallon equivilent:	207.5 MPGe Seven received an EPA mileage rating of 207.5 MPGe, based on the official EPA 74 test cycle used for determining mileage for electric and hybrid vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf, during its 2011 testing at the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea Michigan. For more information read this blog post. In 2010, at the Progressive Automotive XPrize (PIAXP) Knockout event, Seven averaged 119.80 MPGe over the course of the City, Urban, and Highway Efficiency tests (Descriptions of tests here). Seven averaged 182 MPGe on the PIAXP 134 mile range test, averaging a speed of 55 MPH with a mandatory stop every 10 miles.
Lateral Acceleration:	Seven achieved 0.87g during PIAXP Knockout testing. (A minimum of 0.7g was required to pass the test. Descriptions of tests here).
0-60 Acceleration:	6.2 seconds.
Accident Avoidance:	48.32 MPH at 2010 PIAXP Shakedown event. (Descriptions of tests here).
Drag Coefficient:	Preliminary testing shows Seven has a CD of 0.23. More tests are pending.
Prototype Amenities:	Carpeting, seat belts, heat, air conditioning, LED headlights and brake lights, 10 cubic feet of trunk space, FM/MP3 stereo system, rearview camera, Moon Eyes hub caps, 4 wheel steering.
Total Cost of Prototype:	Approximately $110,000 in parts and materials. The unpaid hours donated by dedicated team members and volunteers when they were missing their families: Priceless.

We believe in recycling technology. Why reinvent the wheel?

Here is a partial list of Seven's recycled or modified parts:

Headlights:	1937-39 Ford (new stock, modified)
Bumpers:	1970 1/2 Chevy Camero (old stock, recycled)
Door Handles:	Mazda Miata (new stock)
Door Pulls:	Delorean Motor Company DMC-12
Windshield:	Mazda Miata (new stock)
Shifter:	1998 Dodge Neon (old stock, recycled and modified)
Clutch Pedal:	1998 Dodge Neon (old stock, recycled)
Brakes:	1990 Ford Taurus SHO (new stock, modified)

 

Team

Illuminati Motor Works is a largely self-funded, volunteer group of engineers, automotive technicians, graphic artists and car enthusiasts who have worked on alternative means of transport and alternative energy for many decades in their professional and personal lives. Our team members and additional volunteers have built electric, solar electric, series hybrid mini Baja, natural gas fuel injected parallel hybrid, and stored are super charged fuel injected vehicles and have competed in the 1995 Hybrid Electric Vehicle and 1996 Future Car challenges. Volunteers in this project have worked for a variety of companies including Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and GM where we did circuit and system design, programmed and completed prototyping for the EV and HEV programs.

Together we bring a unique set of abilities and diverse backgrounds from which to attack the challenges as set forth by the Automotive X PRIZE. Our preliminary design work supported by hands on experience gained through our collective histories led us to believe that we can not only meet but exceed the performance goals of this competition:

• We are at a remarkable moment in time when promising new automotive technologies can meet growing consumer demand. AXP's goal is to be a catalyst to foster market adoption of more fuel efficient, clean vehicle options.
• Our addiction to oil is hurting consumers, undermining the economy, exacerbating international conflicts, damaging the environment, and threatening the health of the planet.
• We want to connect the technological innovations and capabilities of inventors and entrepreneurs with the practical desires of the car-buying public.
• The transportation sector currently uses 40 percent of the world's petroleum supply. Only through such a paradigm shift will our dependence on oil be reduced.

The PIAXP competition is all about building practical and clean cars that will achieve 100 MPG or its equivalent. Our underlying design strategy, a battery electric vehicle, BEV, employs clever engineering of simple low cost components. This strategy reminiscent of KISS, Keep It Simple Silly, will be carried throughout our vehicle design and construction. Not only is the competition to meet or exceed 100 MPGe while maintaining driver comfort, safety and performance but it must produce a technically and economically viable vehicle that can be mass-produced and brought to market. This isn't a competition for competition sake, it is for the sake of our society and our continued existence on this planet. Earth will survive whether we do or not. It is within our ability to decide whether we are here to stay; it's just going to take some innovation and a lot of hard work.

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Our approach has already drawn the attention of international publishers such as WIRED magazine and Sanlain Lifeweek.

However sound and exciting our approach, we will not be able to bring this about on our own; each of us has a day job with which we support our families. That is where you come in. We are seeking sponsorship to help bring about the needs of the many. However few we may be, we have developed a viable design which maintains the performance attributes to which the consumer has become accustomed while extending fuel economy by 500%. We are asking for your help. A donation to this cause in the form of a monetary or components donation and/or a partnership of the best that each of us has to offer.