Waterloo makes key contribution to green concept car

An all-Canadian electric vehicle caused a sensation when it was unveiled at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto last month. People raved about the Arrow’s sleek, 3D-printed chassis, or gushed over its solar-panel roof and a steering wheel that can tell if a driver is in a medical emergency.

But what they couldn’t see beneath those cutting-edge wonders was what makes the one-of-a-kind SUV go — something made possible by more than a year of work by engineers at the University of Waterloo.

That would be the Arrow’s powertrain, an absolutely essential system designed and partly assembled at Waterloo’s Mechatronic Vehicle Systems (MVS) Lab under the watchful eyes of mechanical engineering professor Dr. Amir Khajepour.

“We were probably the only ones in Canada who could do this,” he said as technicians carefully tested the Arrow in his Waterloo lab earlier this month.

Go to Showcasing the future of green auto tech for the full story.

The Project Arrow concept car was at the MVS Lab at Waterloo Engineering for work earlier this month.