Cal Super Mileage Vehicle Team

The Cal Super Mileage Vehicle Team makes electric urban concept vehicles designed to prioritize efficiency before all else. Projects include powertrain, chassis, systems, and autonomous subsystems. Since the beginning of CalSMV in 1991, the Team has focused its ambitions towards small, single-passenger prototype vehicles designed to prioritize fuel efficiency before all else. As the world and as technology has changed, so has the CalSMV Team. The revitalization of Super Mileage in 2013 brought along not just a new team of ambitious members from multitudes of practices, but a new ambition and new drive. Remembering the heritage and the history left by CalSMV alumni, the Team today seeks to expand the original mission of efficiency towards a larger, real-world scope — quite literally. Starting in 2016, CalSMV began pursuing an ultra-efficient vehicle driven by a pure battery-electric drivetrain (a first for the team) on top of a large street legal carbon-monocoque. The vehicle, aptly named Lux, features custom motor controller, and a design built completely in-house with our very own CNC router. To match real world expectations, Lux features safety designs such as dual-crumple zones and double-wishbone suspension systems. No detail is left behind, not even windshield wipers. The CalSMV Team is driven by curiosity and by enthusiasm; there are no bounds! We are now working on designing and manufacturing a new EV, Joule, and have also started a new Autonomous Programming team to compete in the virtual autonomous competition. The aim behind such a large ambition resides in our team’s shared desire to push beyond the bounds of competition in order to experience what it is like to build a vehicle for the real world. The challenges that reside with such a goal offer opportunities for stimulating innovations, new industry collaborations, and immersive hands-on experiences. And for the Team, beyond engineering and design, our number one goal is to bring together the CalSMV Family and develop firsthand skills to pass on as wonderful, insightful experiences. – cal super mileage vehicle team