Vanguard
Eliica, The Future in a Car
"Eliica" Electric-vehicle Development Project
SHIMIZU,Hiroshi
ProfessorFaculty of Environment and Information Studies
Drive it, and you'll understand
“Seeing is believing,” or, as we
prefer to call it in the auto industry, “driving is believing,”
points out the leader of the development project, Professor Hiroshi
Shimizu of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies.
Professor Shimizu is trying to explain the super eco car called
Eliica in a nutshell. Eliica is a complete electric vehicle, a motor
vehicle that has lots more things under its hood than you can
imagine. If you just call Eliica an “electric car” most people
might imagine a motorized golf cart. But this vehicle completely
overturns the notion of a slow-moving motorized vehicle. The Eliica
was originally designed to run at a maximum speed of 400km/h. It
easily hits a top speed of 370km/h in no time. The feeling of
acceleration in this car may go beyond your imagination. Evaluating
its acceleration Professor Shimuzu concludes, “The feeling of
acceleration is intense! No shifts or interruptions… just smooth
acceleration all the way through.” To find sleek, flowing contours
in an electric car and feel, on acceleration, the sense of gravity
slipping away is just inconceivable in a gasoline car. “Driving is
believing” sums it up. Drive it, and you'll understand. The car
brings the future at your doorsteps. “All boys love cars,”
Professor Shimizu intones. When we were little we all dreamed about
our ideal future. This high performance electric car, the Eliica,
makes your heart race in exactly the same way as when we were young.
I love cars more than anything else
Being asked what other means of
transport he liked, Professor Shimizu said, “There isn't any other.
I just love cars.” It is probably fair to say that now that the
Eliica is complete makes it the happiest moment in Professor
Shimizu's life. But it has taken thirty years of painstaking devotion
for this to come true. When Professor Shimizu was studying at the
School of Engineering he always dreamed of becoming an automotive
engineer. He was one of the many baby boomers who joined the work
force when Japanese driving culture was drawing heavy criticism from
all quarters for its high traffic accidents and increasing air
pollution. Professor Shimizu hesitated to enter the automotive world
and pursued his study in the field of applied physics to begin with
the basics. In graduate school, he studied about lasers, which were
then considered both pioneering and cutting-edge research. Upon
graduation he joined the National Institute for Environmental Studies
in the Ministry of the Environment, where he participated in the
development of a system that employed laser light to measure air
pollution. The development of the laser light system proceeded
smoothly and he gained the satisfaction of designing something
special and useful. It is perhaps ironic that Professor Shimizu got
his start as a researcher developing machines to measure air
pollution, invariably referred to as the Achilles' heel of
gasoline-powered cars. But as he pursued his studies in environmental
pollution, he soon realized that measuring air pollution was not the
same as fixing it. At last he came to a conclusion that the most
enterprising way to overcome air pollution was to develop an
emission-free electric car. At this time most experts in the
automobile industry were aware that eliminating CO2 emission would
undoubtedly improve the environment. But nobody was ready to take the
next step. But Professor Shimizu felt that knowing the answer without
taking action was meaningless. “There's no point in switching to
electric cars unless they're better than gasoline cars in some way.
All developments in manufacturing are driven by this very process of
industrialization,” Professor Shimizu argued.
Always five years away
Early in its development, the Eliica
project realized that the development of an electric car and the
proliferation of its technology would have a salutary effect on the
environment by fighting global warming. In the beginning the eco car
team brainstormed a medley of ideas, tested various suggestions and
answered many “what ifs.” Gradually the idea of an eco car called
Eliica emerged. Slowly its skeleton began to be fleshed out. “We
can get this project done in five years!” Professor Shimizu thought
in those days. Five years later, he thought the same, and five years
hence he felt the same. After that…before he realized it, the
Eliica project had taken nearly 30 years. However these three decades
were quite satisfying as they afforded a chance to flesh out a
revolutionary idea. All along he was confident that “Our efforts
would eventually pay off.” This positive outlook was what led him
to ultimate success. Diverse physical principles call for
experimentation with different conceptual forms and designs.
Professor Shimizu's team threw away antiquated ideas and started to
develop a new energy-saving model. It was a pioneering work in
automobile design that could only be done in Japan. The team employed
most of the new technology including a high-energy Lithium-ion
battery, in-wheel motors, and a high-performance inverter.
All these
new technologies were finally incorporated in the Eliica model.
Though Eliica is a breakthrough development, Professor Shimizu humbly
states that his achievement is quite small as the unrealized
possibilities of the concept are limitless. Undoubtedly a lot of
groundbreaking work gets lost in the process leading up to the
development of a prototype. This was a matter for concern for the
team which was aware of the history of failure of such university
ventures. To add to their anxiety, both Professor Shimizu and his
team were apprehensive about the seemingly unbridgeable gap between
basic and developmental research called the Devil River. But to their
relief and joy this gap was bridged by both ingenuity and creativity
and the fragile technological flower called Eliica bloomed. The next
hurdle, called Death Valley, is to transform the prototype into a
commercial product. The technology needs to prove its reliability,
durability and safety. Professor Shimizu determined, “I will walk
slowly on the edge of the valley, and I will manage to cross it.”
Without overcoming this valley, the electric car Eliica would not be
able to replace gasoline cars. The last challenge to overcome is to
make the commercial product suited for mass production, known as
Darwin's Sea. The team is confident that they will be able to bridge
the gap between commercial production stage and mass production by
just working consistently on research and development. They know they
had worked hard and success will surely be theirs.
SFC is the secret
It is no exaggeration to mention that
the intellectual culture of Shonan Fujisawa Campus （SFC）
provided the critical backdrop for the Eliica project to take
off. Suppose one researcher asked himself, “How do we want to
change society?” Then, his question develops in his mind from “What
kind of car would achieve that result?” into “In what way do cars
need to change?” He continues to ask himself, “Once we have this
advanced car, how do we persuade people to adopt it?” These
questions helped to expand the possibilities of the project
limitlessly. From design, motor development and core component design
to creation of business model and marketing, the project grew into an
enormous structure. “You can look all over the world, and SFC is
the only single campus where such a comprehensive project can be
developed from concept to fruition,” Professor Shimizu enthused.
“That's why this campus is capable of such stellar research
results.” This ideal educational framework that SFC provided
enabled Professor Shimizu and his project team to transform the
conception of the Eliica eco-car into reality. Professor Shimizu with
his team is now eager to start the Eliica revolution, something that
began with the basic question of how to change daily life.
A Brief Background of Professor
SHIMIZU,Hiroshi
Professor Shimizu completed his doctoral studies at the School of Engineering, Tohoku University. Upon graduation, he accepted a post at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. Later, Professor Shimizu attended an overseas study program at the University of Colorado in the United States. After stints as director of Regional Planning Research Office of the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Director of Research at the Regional Environmental Research Group of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Professor Shimizu in 1997 was appointed professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University. Since then he has served as General Technology Leader of the Eliica Electric-vehicle Development Project. He is now spearheading a team to promote the sales of this revolutionary vehicle. Professor Shimizu's area of specialization is research in technology aimed at analyzing and solving environmental problems. Currently his key duties involve the development of the electronic vehicle and a database of environmental technology. His interest in electric car research and development of electric cars goes back to his work at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. In 2004, after developing seven prototypes, Professor Shimizu and his team succeeded in making Eliica a reality.
(18 December 2008)
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