Update (3 years later!)

Since i got the car running, I have done many things involving electric cars and academics. My electric GTI, has unfortunately spent it's time in a garage in Spokane while I have been in school. I plan on giving it many upgrades when i have the time, money and knowledge.

I created the following pages. These and other new pages described below are listed above the search bar
Future Upgrades Page
Slideshow Page
Vehicle Specifications Page

the last three years...

University of Washington

To start, I have been studying electrical engineering and mathematics at the University of Washington and am about a year from obtaining a EE Bachelor's degree with a mathematics minor.


UW EcoCAR2
In 2011 I joined the UW EcoCAR2 team which was a 3 year engineering competition (2011-2014) that resulted in a consumer ready biodiesel hybrid electric vehicle. I contributed mostly to the high voltage electrical and mechanical design as one of the Electrical Leads. We placed 2nd overall as a team, which was amazing considering it was our first time and we were up against teams who have been competing for 20 years.

The competition's mission is a vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the next generation of automotive engineers. The competition challenges 15 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

The technical goals are to design and integrate vehicle powertrains that, when compared to the production gasoline vehicle:

• Reduce fuel consumption
• Reduce well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduce criteria tailpipe emissions
• Maintain consumer acceptability in the areas of performance, utility, and safety

Through this project, I obtained crucial industry experience and practices including software use (NX CAD, Matlab, Autonomie), controls experience, and safety guidelines, especially for high voltage. I plan on applying this knowledge to the upcoming upgrades I plan to do on my Electric Gti.

More information on this including our team website, car specs and competition homepage can be found on the EcoCAR2 Page

Tesla Motors Internship

In april 2014 I was offered an internship with Tesla under the Power Electronics Team. To me this was the pinnacle of electric vehicle research and i was honored to be given the opportunity.

Due to Tesla's extreme pace in terms of production and innovation, my job has been all over the board. As a result, I have been exposed to many aspects of the design, validation and manufacturing cycles. I have design parts directly for the Model X and Model S, tested and validated many new components and assemblies, helped source parts for future assemblies and learned a ton along the way.

UW EcoCAR3
I will be back at UW at the end of September and will start year one of the new EcoCAR3 competition, which involves converting a 2016 Chevy Camaro.

About Me
More information on my academic and professional endeavors can be viewed on my LinkedIn Profile Page or at jakegarrison.me
Feel free to connect! See my About Me Page