The UW Hybrid Vehicle Team is composed of undergraduate students at UW-Madison. Members come from all disciplines, engineering to philosophy.

The Wisconsin Hybrid Vehicle Team is always looking for more help! Absolutely no experience necessary, all skill and experience levels are welcome. Being active in the team is a great way to meet new people while developing hands on engineering skills that will set you apart from your peers. The first step is to subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date on meetings and events. Team meetings are held all days of the week, but the main meeting is Friday at 3:30pm in Tong Auditorium in Engineering Centers Building. Occasionally the meeting will be held at a different time or room as events dictate, so you are best to join the mailing list several days before you intend to attend a meeting.

You can read about our team leaders and member biographies at our Team Member Details page.

The team often honors extraordinary achievement and dedication with the Mover & Shaker Award.  See past winners here.

The faculty adviser is the main resource for the team. In additional to Glenn’s vast technical expertise and experience, he is instrumental in forging partnerships with industry, getting sponsorships and navigating the competitions.

The team leader is responsible for all interactions between the organizers and the team. They keep the team up to date and moving on objectives, coordinate any travel, and keep track of the budget.  Additionally, the team leader keeps all the groups on the same page and on track with required progress.

The RADAR is tasked with keeping up with deadlines, progress, and generally keeping the team moving forward!  They interface with competition organizers, the team adviser, and the team leaders, making sure that everyone is up to date on the tasks that lie ahead.

The Controls and Electrical Group is responsible for the computer and sensor systems in the car. The Controls Group also creates and maintains the software that controls the vehicle, programming the ECU, VCU, CAN bus, and developing control algorithms for the hybrid systems. The Electrical Group is responsible for the creation and installation of the electric motor, battery pack, and vehicle wiring, they are also responsible for the upkeep and testing of the car’s general electrical system.

The Drivetrain and Mechanical Group are responsible for the structural modifications to the car to accommodate the conversion to a hybrid electric vehicle, fitting the engine into the vehicle, positioning and installation of the peripheral systems like the cooling system, fuel system, air conditioning, and alternator. They are also responsible for the drivetrain on the vehicle, and other systems such as suspension and brakes.

The Outreach Group is responsible for team interactions with the community, K-12 students and local events.  This group will also make a trade show display and a business presentation for the team, in addition to maintaining the website.

The UW Hybrid Vehicle Team will be recieving a donated Saturn Vue from General Motors in the coming year. The vehicle’s drivetrain will be completely removed to accommodate Wisconsin’s newly developed hybrid vehicle powertrain.

Wisconsin has been approved by the EcoCAR competition to use a Series – Parallel hybrid vehicle design platform. The powertrain consists of a 150kW Sapphire traction motor which can be assisted by the 61 kW turbo charged MP750 Weber Engine. The Weber is also coupled to an Delphi Du174 electric drive which will be used as a generator. The battery pack is a 45 Amp/hr liquid cooled JCS battery pack. This large capacity pack is designed primarily to get 30+ miles per charge during plug-in mode. All of this hardware will be controlled via MotoTron motor controllers. Wisconsin has chosen E85 as a fuel source for the EcoCAR competition to run in the MP750 Weber Engine.