Universiti Teknologi Malaysia produces electric car

A team of 30 staff and students from four faculties of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) here has come up with an electric car capable of travelling 122km on a single, eight-hour charge. The car, named 'Mizz EV', used a Proton Saga BLM chasis and was completed in just nine months at a cost of RM100,000. It was made specially for the Proton Green Mobility Challenge (PGMC 2012), an electric car race held for the first time by Proton and the Malaysian Innovation Agency (AIM). According to UTM Vice-Chancellor Profesor Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang, UTM was one of 10 higher education institutions selected to participate in the race on Oct 5 and 6 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in Selangor. He said the UTM team, nicknamed 'UTM Evolt', comprised staff of four faculties namely, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Human Resources Management and Development Faculty and the Computer Science and Information System Faculty. "From the synergistic cooperation, our team succeeded in completing the electric vehicle in a short period and was ready for the PGMC challenge at SIC," he told reporters here Tuesday. Zaini said, in the car construction, each participating team needed to consider aspects such as the vehicle electrical system, battery management system, heat management and driving motor technology. He said the challenge was not only to plan the green technology car racing strategy but also covered the marketing plan and building team identity. "The car produced by UTM was completed with various innovative features which were products of UTM research," he added.