HU-GO
HU-GO, is a single seater ultra-light electric vehicle designed and manufactured in Automotive Engineering Department of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey by a team led by Prof. Engin Tanık and Prof. Volkan Parlaktaş. The main goal of the project is to prove that a light electric vehicle can have an acceptable range without requiring heavy and expensive batteries.[1]
Design
Chassis and body
HU-GO has a very light (24 kg) space frame chassis made of aluminum tubes. The body, which is mounted on the chassis is made of fiberglass. Windscreen and wheel covers are made from Plexiglas. All of the components are designed (or selected) within a narrow range of safety factors to keep the weight low. As a result, HU-GO has a competitive weight of only 257 kg in total.[2] While reducing the weight, rollover and torsional stifness calculations have done by using finite elements method software for safety, and successful simulation results were obtained.
Batteries
LiFePO4 type batteries are used in HU-GO. Contrary to its rivals, HU-GO has a battery pack that weighs only 53 kg, which is sufficient for a range of 100 kilometers. With its energy consumption of 50 Wh/km, HU-GO is one of the least energy consuming four-wheeled vehicles in the world. HU-GO can be fully charged in 4 hours, from a standard household outlet. Also with regenerative braking, the vehicle can charge its batteries by converting the kinetic energy to the electric energy, when the throttle pedal is released off.
Performance and handling
Beside the lightness, “fun handling” is the other design philosophy of HU-GO. For that reason, double wishbone suspensions are implemented for both axles as in the sport cars. HU-GO has a total power of 17 hp produced by two separate electric motors. This power brings HU-GO to a maximum speed of 100 km/h. HU-GO can accelerate 0 to 50 km/h in 5 seconds.
Manufacturing
The 90% of the production and assembly were made in Hacettepe University Automotive Engineering Department laboratories. The project is sponsored by Hacettepe University, Hacettepe University Technopolis [1] and Mutlu Batteries [2]. Total cost of the prototype is about 17.000 USD.