Riley Spencer will lead a very important undertaking to create the technical library, tentatively named the “Sustainable Mobility Knowledge Base”. The name suggests, the library will covers everything that is related to our mission: sustainable mobility, and how SSM can integrate these technologies into our product line. The technical library will speed the development and discovery of newer, cleaner technologies.

Again, this is A LOT of work. So, anyone who would like to help Riley out, please contact him directly. Don’t hestitate. Work can be done from home - all you need is a Microsoft Word compatible software.

The First Cut

The first cut of the knowledge base will cover the following topics at a minimum. Please feel free to suggest other topics for inclusion in this version and future revisions of the database.

Environment and Economy

Why is it Important to Reduce Global Fossil Fuel Consumption?
What is Global Warming?

Vehicle Technologies

What is a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)?
What is a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)?
What is a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)?
What is a Grid-connected Plug-in Electric Vehicle?
What is a Natural Gas Powered Vehicle?
What is Bio-diesel?
What is a Fuel Cell Powered Vehicle?
What is Rolling Resistance?
What is Aerodynamic Drag?
What is Rolling Drag?
What are Low-rolling Resistance Tires?
What is Well-to-Wheel (WTW) Efficiency?
What is Pump-to-Wheel (PTW) Efficiency?
What is Well-to-Pump (PTW) Efficiency?
What is the GREET Model?
What is a Solar Panel?
What is an Ultracapacitor or a Supercapacitor?
What is an Aluminum Body Structure?
What is a Polymer Composite Body Structure?
What is Polycarbonate (PC) Glazing?
What is an Auxiliary Power Generator?
What is a Lithium Ion Battery?
What is a Lithium or Nickel Metal Hydride Battery?
What is a Nickel Cadmium Battery?
What is a Lead Acid Battery?
What is a Heat Engine?
What is a Thermal-electric Generator?
What is Waste Heat Recovery?
What is a Turbine Electric Generator?
What is Drive-by-Wire?
What is Regenerative Braking?
What is Electric Steering and Steer-by-Wire?
What is Electric Brake and Brake-by-Wire?

Open Design

Why is Open Design Important?
What are the Key Elements of Open Design?
What are the Challenges of Open Design?
What is Proprietary Information?
How will Open Automotive Design fight barriers to entry?

Laws and Regulations

What is the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)?
What is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ)?
What is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)?

In Relation to SSM’s Mission

It has always been SSM’s goal and responsibility to educate the next generation of Automotive Engineers, automobile enthusiates and the general public on cutting edge fuel-saving technologies and their potential effects on global climate. The completion the database will greatly assist the development of our Kernel™ Electric Vehicle and also further establish SSM as the leader in the sustainability community.

About SSM and OSGV

The Society for Sustainable Mobility (SSM) is a “borderless” non-profit Automotive Engineering group whose focus is to apply Open Design philosophy to revolutionize the development and deployment of eco-friendly transportation. Established in 2005, SSM expanded its charter from the original “Open Source Green Vehicle” (OSGV) Project to include other forms of sustainability research activities. SSM has over 130 volunteers worldwide and a core group of elite aerospace and automotive engineers based in Los Angeles, California. SSM will show case its 100MPG+ Kernel™ hybrid-electric vehicle at the upcoming Automotive X-Prize competition in 2009; and proceed into production by 2011.