UBC Thunderbird Robotics

Thunderbird Robotics is pleased to welcome the UBC Electric Car Club as a new team working together with our other project teams. We see the electrification of the North American transportation system as an important step towards creating a sustainable society that minimizes its use of non-renewable energy resources and the release of toxic emissions to the atmosphere. In addition to converting automobiles from the internal combustion engine to an electric motor, this transformation will be accompanied with instrumentation and control systems to monitor storage, charging, and use of electricity on board each vehicle as well as using charged vehicles when not in use to supply demand throughout the "Smart" North American Grid.

British Columbia, today, is capable of generating enough electrical energy to supply all of our transportation needs using off-peak electrical capacity. Other Canadian provinces (Labrador/Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba) are also poised to take advantage of this opportunity. Throughout the rest of North America, over half of the continent's electricity is associated with coal-fired generating stations. Canada has an opportunity to help reduce fossil fuel reliance in these regions through the supply of "clean" electrical energy.

By incorporating energy monitoring systems, we can provide drivers with ways to maximize their use of electricity and enhance the distance that can be driven on a full-charge.