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Corbin Sparrow - the Zero Carbon Car 2004
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The UW "Zero Carbon Car" has an electric power train, no tail pile,
and therefore, no emissions. A typical internal combustion vehicle
produces very little regulated emissions, but several tons of carbon
dioxide per year. Carbon dioxide contributes to global warming. The
Corbin Sparrow has been converted to run on fuel cells.
Status
There are currently no projects associated with the Corbin Sparrow.
During the 2004 academic year UWFEC worked on revamping a donated
2001 Corbin Sparrow. Modifications included upgrading a 156 V lead
acid batteries pack to a nickel metal hydride battery pack. This
upgrade doubled the cars driving range from 50 miles to 100 miles,
assuming 100 watt hours per mile, with the added benefit of greatly
increasing the number of times the batteries can be recharged. The
changes also included a three-fold portable renewable energy charging
station making the car free of carbon emissions; thus the name “Zero
Carbon Car”. This charging station, meant to be used stationary,
included a 400 W folding Sunpower solar panel array, a 400 W Southwest
Windpower wind turbine with 20 ft telescoping tower, and a 1.2 kW
Balard Nexus fuel cell. This design used the initial boost stage of
the UWFEC inverter to charge the cars batteries.
Technical Specifications
Some specifications of the stock Corbin Sparrow include:
- Single seat, electric commuter vehicle priced at $15,000
- Built as #181 of 200 by Corbin Motor, Hollister, CA until March 2003>
- 156 Vdc (Thirteen 12 V NiMH batteries in series)
- Three wheeled vehicle registers and insures as a motorcycle
- 1350 lbs curb weight (approx 612 kg)
- Top Speed: 70 mph (110 kph)
- Range: 120-150 miles (NiMH batteries), 30-60 (Pb-acid batteries)
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