Illini EV Concept 2022: Pioneering Energy Efficiency
3 min read
Team Illini EV Concept from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated innovation, relentless perseverance and determination as they dealt with multiple challenges in the 2022 competition.
Meet Xavier Kelley and Dmitry Ichenko two members of Shell Eco-marathon team from the USADuring the pandemic their team faced challenges head-on and had to adapt including finding the right space to work on their electric vehicle; took the opportunity to introduce new ideas and technologies, including making their vehicle autonomous and even doubled their team over a particularly challenging time.
These inspiring students are passionate about sustainability and share what they’re doing to raise awareness in their local communities on simple innovative and technology solutions to care about the planet.
They believe that Shell Eco-marathon provides them with the knowledge to solve real-world problems in the transportation and create a world where people have the same opportunities and ensure a better future for everyone.
Watch the video for more on their story.
“Shell Eco-marathon is a great opportunity… to get hands-on experience and build a car from the ground up.”
Hear from Xavier and Dmitry of Illini EV Concept
Read the transcript
Read the transcript
Title: Shell Eco-marathon: USA 2022 – Illini EV Concept
Duration: 03:50
Description: Shell Eco-marathon Back on Track: USA 2022 – Illini EV Concept transcript
[Video footage]
Xavier appears full frame.
Xavier:
I guess you could say our team motto is “We'll figure it out”.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shot of team standing around vehicle.
[Text displays]
Illini EV Concept
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
[Video footage]
Cuts to footage of team members talking outside garage.
Xavier voiceover:
We’re team Illini EV Concept. Our university is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and we're in the United States.
[Video footage]
Cuts back to Xavier.
[Text displays – name strap]
Xavier Kelly
Team Manager
Xavier:
My team is very passionate about sustainability largely because it's becoming easier and easier to see the effects of climate change.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shots of vehicle and team members working in garage before cutting to Dmitry.
[Text displays - name strap]
Dmitry Ilchenko
Team President and Electronics Lead
Dmitry:
Illini EV Concept works on providing better and more sustainable future through innovation and technology.
[Video footage]
Cuts to footage of car being pushed outside garage before cutting to Xavier.
Xavier:
I think energy efficient cars are going to be a game changer…
[Text displays]
Game changer
Xavier:
If a vehicle uses less electricity, that means that we don't need to produce as much electricity for it to run.
[Video footage]
Cuts to footage of car in garage before cutting back to Xavier.
Xavier:
If we're able to improve on the, power of our renewable energy sources, such as solar panels or turbines, then essentially we can generate tons and tons of cheap and eco-friendly energy, put them into vehicles that don't actually need very much to run. And then, everything becomes cheaper.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shots of team working in garage before cutting to Dmitry.
Dmitry:
During pandemic, our team had a lot of struggles finding the garage space and the place for all the team members to work with each other, to build the car.
[Video footage]
Cuts to montage of team members working in vehicle before cutting back to Dmitry.
Dmitry:
The way we solved it was actually moving most of our interactions and workflow online, using online tools, and looking into more of a software side of things, such as PCP design, writing firmware, writing more higher level software.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shots of team members talking outside garage before cutting back to Xavier.
Xavier:
We actually tried to take the initiative during COVID.
[Text displays]
Take the initiative
Xavier:
For example, we started a software team that now is working on making the vehicle completely autonomous. So at one point it will be able to drive forward, see a person and stop. And that's not something that was ever a goal of the team before COVID.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shots of team members working in garage before cutting back to Xavier.
Xavier:
Despite everything that did get in our way, we still managed to essentially double our team in size. And now we're actually tackling much bigger. And, I think sometimes a little bit more exciting, uh, challenges that we never would've had the ability to do before.
[Video footage]
Cuts to shots of team members working on vehicle, inside and outside garage, before cutting back to Xavier.
Xavier:
Our team has begun working on outreach events within our community to promote sustainability in an easy to understand way.
[Text displays]
Community
Sustainability
Xavier:
Going to a local high school and presenting to the students about sustainability in a general sense, and basically trying to teach them that it doesn't have to be difficult to care about the planet.
[Video footage]
Cuts to team member working on car before cutting to Dmitry.
Dmitry:
Shell Eco-marathon is a great opportunity for students to get hands-on experience and build a car from ground up…
[Text displays]
Hands-on experience
[Video footage]
Cuts to footage of team members working in garage before cutting back to Dmitry.
Dmitry:
…. and I think that this experience of innovating, building something from scratch, and looking at the root cause of the problem will allow people to get more understanding and experience how to actually solve the real-world problems in the transportation industry.
[Text displays]
Solve
Real-world problems
[Video footage]
Cuts to split screen of Dmitry and Xavier before cutting to Xavier, full frame.
Xavier:
When I think about the future, I want to do what I can to create a world where it's just as it, people in the future have these same opportunities that I do. And aren't going to be hindered by the decisions that my generation is making to prioritise something over the environment. I believe that people should try to make the world better for the next generation than your current one.
[Text displays]
Next generation
[Video footage]
Cuts to shot of team members posing with vehicle before cutting back to Xavier.
Xavier:
Don't forget to like, comment, and share and follow #ShellEcoMarathon for more.
[Text displays]
#ShellEcoMarathon
[Shell endboard with logo]
#ShellEcoMarathon
Follow for more
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