With the hood up exposing the advanced lead-acid batteries

The aXcessaustralia hybrid car exposing the advanced lead-acid batteries

aXcessaustralia: a concept car for the not-so-distant future

The aXcessaustralia low emission vehicle showed how hybrid cars could be economical today.

  • 12 November 2007 | Updated 14 October 2011

Launched in 2000, the aXcessaustralia low emission vehicle (LEV) was a hybrid petrol-electric concept car (that is, it had both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor).

It used less than half the fuel of an equivalent conventional car.

The issue

In these days of oil prices around US$100 per barrel, there is wide recognition of the need for such hybrid cars, even all-electric cars, for city use.

The aXcessaustralia LEV was designed to showcase cost-effective solutions to challenges such as reducing the weight of the batteries and matching the performance of conventional cars.

The aXcessaustralia LEV had the performance of a conventional vehicle, but with half the fuel consumption and 90 per cent less pollution.

What CSIRO did

The aXcessaustralia concept car was much cheaper than previous models thanks to several technologies from CSIRO.

These included:

  • energy management strategies
  • advanced lead-acid batteries
  • super-capacitors
  • generator design
  • a unique design of electric traction motor (ETM).

The batteries in electric cars can weigh around 500 kilograms (about half the weight of a conventional small car). CSIRO's power pack weighs only 110 kilograms.

These batteries are affordable, long-lasting and can spend a considerable time partially charged, unlike conventional car batteries.

The batteries gave the car range under electric-only operation (about 20 minutes in urban traffic) while super-capacitors provided good acceleration.

The aXcessaustralia LEV featured a patented drive train that made best use of mixed storage. it used a series hybrid arrangement to give optimum packaging in a small space and an ideal weight split between front and rear.

CSIRO also modelled the reduction in urban pollution that would result from the adoption of hybrid vehicles and designed and supplied light-metal castings for use on the car.

The aXcessaustralia LEV had the performance of a conventional vehicle, but with half the fuel consumption and 90 per cent less pollution.

Further CSIRO research into energy storage for vehicles led to the development of the Ultrabattery, a lead-acid battery that performs like a nickel-metal hydride battery, but at less than a quarter the cost.

The Ultrabattery is under pilot production in Japan under licence from CSIRO.

CSIRO has continued to develop technologies ready for when environmental regulations, or even higher fuel prices, cause carmakers to adopt these technologies.

Partners

The aXcessaustralia car was designed and built by a consortium of more than 80 companies to showcase Australian automotive expertise.

It was shown around the world and won several design awards.

Read about another concept car: Hybrid family car uses CSIRO technology.