BRP launches hybrid Spyder project

From BRP

SHERBROOKE, QC – The Centre de technologies avancées BRP – Université de Sherbrooke (CTA) has received $11.3 million in financial support to develop hybrid engine technology for BRP's Can-Am Spyder roadster.

This is the only electric hybrid roadster development project in the world.

An injection of $6.2 million from the Automotive Partnership Canada program and $5.1 million from BRP will see the project extend over a four-year period.

Steven Blaney, MP for Lévis-Bellechasse, Suzanne Fortier, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Guy Lévesque, program director of the Canada Foundation for Innovation were present for this major announcement, along with Université de Sherbrooke's principal, Luce Samoisette, and BRP's president and CEO, José Boisjoli.

First launched in 2007, the Can-Am Spyder roadster is a totally unique way to experience the freedom of open-air riding. Its distinctive Y-architecture – two wheels in front, one in back – creates challenges that push the limits of electric hybrid vehicle technology.

“Our mandate is ambitious and complex,” explained Mihai Rasidescu, president and general manager of the CTA. “Our goal is to develop completely new electric hybrid technology for a three-wheel vehicle that uses 50 percent less fuel and reduces CO2 emissions by 50 percent while maintaining its speed, power and performance.”

“By deciding to establish R & D centres, BRP confirmed its commitment to accelerate the development of cleaner and more efficient new technologies,” stated Boisjoli. “The powertrain technologies used in our snowmobiles, side-by-side vehicles, and outboard engines are already the best in the industry in terms of fuel consumption, and are milestones towards our goal of providing consumers with increasingly eco-performing technology.”

The project’s research team is led by Professor Alain Desrochers from the Université de Sherbrooke’s Mechanical Engineering Department and includes about 30 people from the University and BRP. The roadster’s compact size alone poses major challenges. Rather than modifying existing hybrid technology, the researchers will have to design an entirely new propulsion system.

“Creating a three-wheel vehicle as opposed to a hybrid car poses significant design challenges that require a very high degree of innovation,” said professor Desrochers. “These challenges include the lack of space to accommodate hybrid motorization, cooling problems, aerodynamics, vehicle weight, and noise. Everything must be studied and modified.”

Over the next four years the CTA will produce three generations of prototypes and their components. Any technological innovations will be potentially transferable to other types of vehicles and products.

The Centre de technologies avancées BRP – Université de Sherbrooke (CTA) is the result of a partnership between BRP and the Université de Sherbrooke. Its mandate is to develop new cutting-edge technologies in the field of motorized recreational vehicles.