Cal Poly Supermileage at the 2022 Shell Eco-Marathon

1st Place, Battery-Electric Prototype Category, 139.7 mi/kWh

Cal Poly Supermileage (CPSMV) is a student run club from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, dedicated to designing, engineering, and manufacturing high efficiency vehicles. We compete annually at the Shell Eco-Marathon to create the highest possible efficiency in the battery electric prototype category. We have competed in every Shell Eco-Marathon since 2007, and frequently place in the top 4 out of 100 teams across the Americas. This year we placed first in the battery electric category and with an efficiency of 139.67 mi/kWh on our vehicle.

Power Distribution Board Design

In order to competitively create the highest efficiency vehicles we can, a lot of work goes into designing circuitry that minimizes losses. This means we want short, thick power traces to carry current with little losses. This was a problem for us before, as we didn't have a printed circuit board, and instead ran our power through wires and a heavy relay. However, with PCBWay's help, we will be able to create a much smaller, cleaner Power Distribution Board. This little board cuts down on weight, which increases our efficiency compared to the huge box of electronics we used before, as well as minimizing trace length through its small size.

Besides its main purpose as a Relay Board to control power, the board also features 2 built in buck converters, bringing the 48V battery voltage down to 12V and 5V respectively. The 12V supply runs the relay and the car's horn, while the 5V powers a USB output. The board will let us power monitoring equipment, including an Arduino and Raspberry Pi, so that we can log our efficiency data. We will be using 2oz Copper to further thicken our traces and minimize losses, which is well priced on PCBWay.

Words to PCBWay

This club has had a longtime relationship with PCBWay. We have competed many cars with circuitboards by PCBWay, and with your logo on the side of our car as a thank-you. We would love for 2023 to be another year where we can maintain this relationship and keep on representing, and we look forward to the quality and speed of your PCB service.

For more information on the club, follow us on Instagram here!