CSIRO developed the drive train for Holden’s petrol-electric ECOmmodore.

Hybrid family car uses CSIRO technology

Holden's ECOmmodore proves that petrol-electric cars could be economical today.

• 9 October 2007 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Innovations
• Patented technology
• Advanced energy storage
• Reducing pollution
• On the road

CSIRO technologies make the ECOmmodore much less expensive than previous hybrid vehicles.

They are unique because they not only power a vehicle the size of a standard family car, but they also make it drive like one.

Innovations

The ECOmmodore uses innovations from across CSIRO including:

• energy management strategies
• advanced lead-acid batteries
• super-capacitors
• electric traction motor
• light-metal castings.

Patented technology

The car features a patented drive train (getting power from the engine to the wheels) that incorporates switched reluctance motor technology. The drive train is:

• compact
• low cost
• water-cooled
• computer-controlled
• and delivers full torque at low speed.

The electric motor generates electricity when the car decelerates or is running on its petrol engine.

Advanced energy storage

CSIRO used creative chemistry to optimise the batteries for the ECOmmodore while the super-capacitors, the first to be used in a car, were designed to absorb and deliver energy very quickly.

The entire energy storage system is:

• simple
• long-lasting
• cheaper than standard systems
• lightweight.

Batteries in electric vehicles typically weigh around 500 kilograms (about half the weight of a small car).

The whole power pack for the ECOmmodore (batteries plus super-capacitors) weighs 200 kilograms.

Reducing pollution

We also modelled the reduction in urban pollution that would result from the adoption of hybrid vehicles.

On the road

The ECOmmodore was shown around Australia. At the time of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, it led the torch relay from Uluru in the centre of Australia and at its conclusion in Sydney, New South Wales.