Clean air car race—The Worcester Gremlin KVA-SST

Abstract

On August 24, 1970, 42 low-emission vehicles left M.I.T. on the first leg of the Clean Air Car Race. Seven days later, 35 of the cars had crossed the finish line at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. In the electric-hybrid category, two vehicles tied for first place--the University of Toronto and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute entries. The WPI car, which used an internal-combustion engine running on unleaded gas in combination with a battery-powered drive system, my have tied, but its success was in some ways a Pyrrhic victory: the solid-state controller burned out at least twice, a stepping resistor that was substituted for the controller caused a fire on the second day of the race, the heat sinks on the rectifiers overheated during the desert crossing, and the electric motor was not powerful enough to drive the car up steep grades. Nevertheless, the race proved that cleaner cars are feasible. The next step is up to government and industry. With luck, legislation now pending may curb most automotive pollutants by the mid-seventies.