CHRYSLER NEON - ELECTRIC HYBRID/CNG CONVERSION
Conversion of a Chrysler Neon to a hybrid vehicle with as little intrusion into the passenger compartment and trunk area as possible with components such as batteries, CNG tank and electric motor. The converted vehicle should retain all the desirable characteristics of the original Neon but achieve improved emissions (ULEV) standards in hybrid mode and zero emissions in electric mode.
AWARDS
1995 Hybrid Vehicle Competition
1st Place in the Following
Most Range
Best Use of Advanced Technology
Most Consumer Acceptable Vehicle
Best Heater, Ventilation and Air-conditioning System
3rd Place Overall
VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS
Electric Motor: Unique Mobility 32 kilowatt SR 218 brushless DC motor and controller. The motor is mounted in the engine compartment. It utilizes a Morse HV chain drive adapted to the five speed Neon transmission.
Batteries: 5 kilowatt hours of Saft nickel cadmium battery mounted in two battery boxes under the rear passenger seat. A power supply manufactured by Xantrex will charge the battery in 6 hours from complete discharge. Running the car in a regenerative braking mode will quick charge the battery to 90% in approximately 15 minutes.
I.C.Engine: Neon engine converted to run on fuel injected compressed natural gas.
CNG Fuel Tank: An 80 liter EDO carbon fiber fuel tank mounted under the trunk floor with a Kevlar protective shield. A Sherex dual stage regulator reduces CNG pressure to 1.24 MPA. The fill receptacle is an ANSI/AGA NGV 1 mounted in the original gasoline filler space.
CONTROL STRATEGY
The vehicle has three modes of operation: EV - Electric Only, Internal Combustion Engine Only (ICE), and Hybrid - Both Electric and ICE running together. To encourage electric vehicle operation, the vehicle always starts in the EV mode and stays in that mode unless the vehicle performance drops below what the operator desires. If the battery is nearly flat, performance will drop off and the car will be at full EV throttle position for too long (more than 6 sec) and a timer will signal a start up routine which will start the IC engine. Once the ICE has been started, it remains running until the vehicle has been shut down with the start-stop switch.
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