AUGUST 2010 / PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
JOHN STANFIELD
JOHN@WENGMOTORS.COM +1 415 279 8455
HERE’S A LITTLE BIT OF OUR STORY
“You wouldn’t blow-dry your hair with a
hectic weeks, amidst other coursework and
jet engine,” says co-founder John Stanfield,
the varied concerns of students nearing the
reflecting on the irony of driving automobiles
end of the school year, the team of five rolled
to accomplish short trips.
out an electric vehicle that they believe will
classmates
from
John and four
Stanford
University’s
begin a long overdue dialogue regarding our
graduate Design Program teamed up in
choices in transportation.
the last ten weeks of graduate school to
assures teammate David Goligorsky “but
see if they could imagine and build a more
they are designed to be efficient for trips most
appropriate solution to our short-distance
people rarely take.” The team bolstered their
mobility needs. The intent of this team’s work
research with field studies using methods
was to create a concept vehicle that would
borrowed from Ethnography and Sociology.
replace the 4,000-pound, 200-horsepower car for common short trips.
In those ten
“We like cars,”
On paper, the team appears to be a motley crew of academic backgrounds and loosely
affiliated career pursuits. Stanfield earned an
as a professional baker in Massachusetts.
undergraduate degree in Physics and went
Brian Ng holds undergraduate degrees
on to join a team of firefighters jumping from
in both Electrical Engineering and Fine
helicopters to battle forest blazes. He has also
Art, working for the better part of a decade
worked Search & Rescue in Yosemite National
at
Park and run two businesses- a window-
Laboratory developing concept vehicles and
cleaning operation in San Francisco and a
interactions. Goligorsky studied Aerospace
Mercedes biodiesel conversion company in
Engineering and worked for a few years on
Los Angeles. Karen Shakespear also studied
Department of Defense contracts including
Physics and spent two post-graduate years
a hypersonic projectile for electromagnetic
Volkswagen’s
Electronics
Research
railguns.
Andrew Murphy is an Electrical
the WENG took its maiden voyage, pushing
Engineer with several years of experience
off from Building 610, or The Loft to those in
working on electromechanical systems and
the know. The drivetrain includes a pair of
running his own design consulting firm called
1.2kW in-hub DC brushless motors propelled
Monkey Wrench Design. This utterly disparate
by 60V from a bundle of LiFePO4 (lithium
amalgamation of backgrounds is a trademark
iron phosphate) battery cells.
of the Stanford program in Design and turned
controllers manage the dialogue between
out to be a perfectly complimentary pairing of
the twist-grip throttle, the battery pack, and
skill-sets that allowed for one team member
the hub motors. Customized motor controller
to jump in where another’s abilities began to
software dictates a torque value to the
tail off.
individual motors, eliminating the need for a
Two motor
At the beginning of June, just hours before
mechanical differential and freeing the vehicle
their final presentation to faculty advisors,
from the clutter of gears and axles. Each
rear wheel is mounted on a swing-arm
Sunnyvale, CA called Animatics.
This
suspension borrowed from the scooter
motor drives a custom gearbox designed
industry. These are complemented by a
and manufactured by Mr. Murphy, who
leaf spring suspension at the front wheels,
bought his own 3-axis CNC mill at a used
offering a fantastically smooth ride.
equipment auction. The gearbox transfers
One of the most interesting technical
rotary motion from the high-speed motor
features of the WENG is its unique
to the linear action of a typical rack-and-
steer-by-wire system.
There’s an egg-
pinion steering mechanism, converting
shaped aluminum enclosure mounted
that thumb input to turning authority. “The
to the handlebars housing a thumb
steering feels strange at first, but gets
joystick harvested from a PS3 video
to be intuitive within a few blocks,” says
game controller.
It communicates with
Brian Ng, whose contributions include the
a gifted smart motor from a company in
design sketches of the prototype vehicle.
“It’s like Mario Karts in real life!” The WENG was built nearly entirely by hand with rare exceptions.
Shakespear’s talent
three switches including an On/Off, Forward/ Reverse, and a toggle for the lathe-turned and hand-wired LED headlights.
at the bakery translated well to the machine
All said, the WENG rides like a magic
shop where she handled a lions share of
carpet and looks like a lunar rover for
the build and all the detailed handiwork.
exploring one’s local environs. This vehicle
The group MIG- and TIG-welded the steel
is a concept prototype, however, and requires
chassis, crafted the gorgeous wooden deck,
some changes before it can see production.
bent steel tube, formed sheet metal, and
After graduation and the barrage of press
even upholstered the scooter-style seats by
coverage that followed the release of the
hand (with grips to match.) The dashboard
WENG, the team was offered grant funding
is a spartan but effective laser-cut panel with
from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
This
annual no-strings-attached summer grant
opportunity
gives select entrepreneurs the opportunity
continued to iterate and refine the Design
to incubate a business idea under the
and Engineering. The team is just starting
wing of seasoned venture capitalists and
to look for funding from angel investors,
vetted serial-entrepreneurs.
For this,
so keep your eyes peeled for when these
team WENG welcomed Graeme Waitzkin,
friendly electric vehicles take to the street.
a recent alum from Stanford’s Graduate
Then again, they’ll be hard to overlook.
School of Business, to scope the business
while
the
original
crew
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