Newell retraced historic road trip in new electric vehicle

A landmark event in automobile history, Roy Chapin’s 1901 road trip from Detroit to New York City changed the way people thought about automobiles at the time. This summer, a recently retired engineering faculty member retraced Chapin’s journey in reverse, from New York City to Detroit, in an all-electric Ford Focus EV. His trip is getting a lot of attention and may change the way many think about electric vehicles today.

A professor emeritus in mechanical science and engineering (MechSE), Ty Newell now focuses on solar energy, energy efficiency, and resource conservation. He could not wait for Ford to begin selling its new electric vehicles in Illinois, so he ordered one from a dealer in Long Island, New York (they are currently available in New York, New Jersey, and California). In early July, he and his wife Deb flew out to Long Island to pick up their new car, which Newell dubbed “The Sun Catcher,” and bring it home to Urbana. They would travel by way of Detroit, where the vehicle had been built in Ford’s renovated Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP), roughly following Chapin’s course.

Chapin, a young engineer and test driver at the Oldsmobile Company in the early days of the automotive industry, made the 760-mile trip at a time before paved roads connected towns and when there were no gas stations or garages along the route. Chapin endured frequent setbacks: a broken transmission, broken suspension, and tires he had to inflate every few miles by hand pump. The trip took ten days and he arrived just in time for the New York Auto Show, only to be turned away because he was covered in mud.

The biggest challenge the Newells faced was finding a suitable place to charge up from time to time, but websites like Plugshare.com, ChargePoint.com, AAA, and the MyFordMobile App made that job much easier.

“The toils and tribulations of our trip were nothing compared to Roy’s,” Newell wrote for his road trip blog at www.focusonsolar.com. “We had a GPS that marked any and everything coming up. Our anxiety over charging stations only meant that if a ‘fast’ charger was not available, we would need to ‘slow’ charge for a few more hours at someone’s wall receptacle.”

At the time of Chapin’s trip, most people considered automobiles practical only for jaunts around town, but his expedition inspired people’s imaginations about the possibilities of automotive technology. Newell hopes that his “EVing” trip will capture the same type of excitement for electric vehicles as clean, quiet, and sustainable alternatives to their gas-powered predecessors.

Newell said that vehicle costs for electric cars will drop as auto manufacturers' profit margins increase, due to the simplicity and low manufacturing costs of electrics versus internal combustion (IC) engines. While electric engines have one moving part – the rotor – IC engines have hundreds. Electric engines also eliminate the need for exhaust systems; air, oil, and fuel filters; and several sensors that IC engines require. Additionally, electric engines are quiet, meaning the car’s sound system will sound better than ever before, Newell promised.

“Yes, there are some infrastructure changes that are needed to fully support an EV-based transportation system, but there are no technological breakthroughs nor economic barriers preventing us from moving to a transportation system powered by sustainable, renewable energy,” Newell wrote on his blog.

In addition to showing that a cross-country excursion in an electric vehicle is possible, because of its timing, the trip allowed Newell to make a point about the importance of renewable energy. He picked up “the Sun Catcher” on July 3, just before Independence Day.

“Independence from oil and other fossil fuels is essential to our future,” Newell wrote in his July 4 blog entry. “And EVs such as the Ford Focus Electric are a key piece to that puzzle.”

This message was more than a holiday-inspired sentiment, it’s an idea Newell has instilled in his students throughout the years. Awarded a MechSE Alumni “most effective” teacher award, he has mentored students such as Jigar Shah, a MechSE alumnus who created the solar energy firm SunEdison and later became the first CEO of The Carbon War Room, which seeks to leverage the efforts of entrepreneurs to fight climate change.

But the message is not just something he preaches, it’s also how Newell lives. He and his son, Ben, built an energy-efficient, solar-powered home, called the “Equinox House,” in late 2009 and 2010. Newell also works with Ben at their company Equinox Built Environment Engineering, where they invent technologies for designing and building healthy, sustainable lifestyle solutions.

While in New York City on July 5, the Newells visited historic sites such as the location where the first recipient of an electric power bill – the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company – once stood, and the former site of Thomas Edison’s first power plant. They also visited the spot where the Declaration of Independence was first read to General Washington and his troops on July 8, 1776.

“To officially start Roy Chapin’s journey, we wanted to drive into the heart of New York City,” Ty Newell wrote on his blog. “Our trip into the city was spent visiting a number of sites with an emphasis on ones that relate to the development of our modern technology world and ones that reflect the importance of maintaining our liberty and independence.”

After a few days visiting family and friends, the Newells started their trip home on July 8, and, as a surprise for Deb, renewed their wedding vows along the way at a camp where the couple first met. It makes sense that Newell, whose commitment to renewable energy is so much a part of both his personal and professional lives, would mingle personal landmarks with those of a more historic nature.

The renewal of vows was not the only part of the trip that resonated with Newell’s personal history, however. His family history is deeply connected with the history of the Detroit automobile industry, and particularly with Oldsmobile, where Chapin worked when he made his historic trip, and the Hudson Motor Company, which Chapin helped found in 1908. Newell’s grandfather, John L. Newell, was an early employee of the Hupp Motor Company and Hudson. His father, Jack Newell, started as a tool & die maker and then became a service manager trainer for Hudson and Oldsmobile.

Arriving at the Ford MAP in Wayne, Mich., on July 13, Ty and Deb Newell were greeted with applause. Not only did the Ford plant’s senior supervisors greet them and give them a tour, but Roy Chapin’s grandson Bill Chapin, president of the Automotive Hall of Fame, was also there to congratulate them.

In the end, Newell estimates his 1,650-mile trip (including touring around New York and the leg from Detroit to Urbana) required 370 kWh of energy, or about 4.4 miles per kWh. At a total energy cost of $46, based on 12.5 cents per kWh of solar-generated electricity, Newell made his trip for significantly less than the average 30 mile-per-gallon car, which would have used 55 gallons of gas at a total fuel cost of $165 to $220, assuming fuel prices of $3 to $4 per gallon. But Newell foresees efficiencies in charging technology and increases in electric vehicle range that may lead to a day when stopping to charge will no longer be necessary.

“And this is just the beginning,” Newell said. “Our great research universities are providing the tools and solutions we need for sustainable living. Entrepreneurs will rapidly move these technologies into the marketplace as we've seen with so many other technologies.”
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Writer: Chad Garland, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineeirng.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.